© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Opposition parties on Tuesday criticised the first Budget of the third Narendra Modi government as a Budget for “NDA allies in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh” that excluded other states. While the Congress called it a “ ‘save Modi government’ Budget,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) labelled it “politically biased and anti-poor,” and the Samajwadi Party (SP) claimed that it overlooked the interests of the youth and farmers.
Here is what the Opposition parties said:
In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it was a “copycat Budget” that offers superficial solutions for youth unemployment, farmers, and rural wages. “This is not a Budget for the ‘progress of the country,’ it is a ‘save Modi government’ budget!” he said.
Kharge pointed out a “lack of substantial schemes” for marginalised groups and women, saying, “There is no revolutionary scheme for Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes, minorities, middle class, and rural poor people like the one implemented by the Congress-led UPA.” He also targeted the government for “inadequate spending” on agriculture, health, education, and public welfare, claiming these are not priorities for the BJP.
Condemning the government’s handling of inflation and public funds, Kharge said, “It is robbing people of their hard-earned money and distributing it among its capitalist friends.” The Congress president also highlighted the absence of discussions on the Census and railway accountability, calling it “a shocking and unprecedented failure — which is against democracy and the Constitution!”
He concluded his remarks, saying, “There is no plan in the budget and the BJP is only busy in the action of cheating the public.”
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Budget, posting on X, “Kursi Bachao Budget. Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets.”
The Budget did not have much for Jharkhand, one of the three states scheduled to hold Assembly polls later this year. Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur alleged, “Jharkhand suffers the Centre’s apathy because it is ruled by a non-BJP government. It (Centre) wants to evoke anger among the masses to serve their political agenda.”
In a social media post, the TMC dubbed it an “Andhra-Bihar Budget”. Party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the Budget “politically biased and anti-poor” and criticised the Centre for “depriving” the state. “It is only to serve a political mission,” she told reporters on the state Assembly premises.
TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee said that while the party does not oppose Budget allocations for other states, the Budget bore a “vindictive attitude”, referring to recent remarks by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari saying the party should not bother about those who do not vote for the party.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav said the Budget ignored the interests of the youth and farmers, had nothing for UP, and called the announcements of development measures for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh reflective of the BJP’s political compulsion to “save its government”.
Though Prime Minister Modi was an MP from UP, Akhilesh said, the state’s farmers had received nothing. He also played down the internship programme announced for the youth, saying they want permanent jobs and not short-term measures.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), another INDIA bloc constituent, also said the Budget was not for India but for NDA allies Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. In a post on X, NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said Maharashtra was neglected in the Budget and the people of the state would give the BJP a reply in the Assembly polls later this year.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said Maharashtra was not mentioned even once by Nirmala Sitharaman in her speech. “I can understand the BJP wanting to save its government and giving Bihar and Andhra Pradesh a huge sum of the Budget. But what is Maharashtra’s fault? That we are the largest taxpayer?” he said.
BSP chief Mayawati posted on X: “The Union Budget… follows the same old pattern, where except for a handful of rich and wealthy people, it offers little hope of good days for the country’s poor, unemployed, farmers, women, labourers, marginalised and neglected communities and is full of disappointment for them.”
The BSP president said the Budget showed that the government was not bothered about issues the country was struggling with, such as extreme poverty, unemployment, inflation, and underdevelopment. “The government should ensure work for every hand, like the BSP government did,” Mayawati said.
Delhi Finance Minister Atishi said despite Delhi paying “Rs 2.32 lakh crore in taxes” to the BJP-led Centre, the National Capital did not get “a single penny” as its share in Central taxes in the Budget.
Atishi said Delhi had demanded budgetary allocation for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) but this was ignored. Challenging the BJP to “show even one thing done for Delhi in the last 11 Budgets presented by its government at the Centre”, she said, “The BJP-ruled Centre presented this Budget to save itself and it is not for the people of the country.”
The Left Front-led Kerala government called the Budget a “political exercise” aimed at saving the life of the NDA coalition and said its “anti-people” and “anti-nation” proposals did not take into account the needs of various states. “The Modi government was not fit to talk about cooperative federalism,” Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal said, adding, “Once the BJP opened its account in Kerala, they closed the account of the state.”
Kerala had requested the Centre to announce a special Rs 24,000-crore package in the Union Budget and sought a special capital investment of Rs 5,000 crore for fulfilling its part in the development of the Vizhinjam port and the surrounding region.
