NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JULY 23
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed “this is a budget of continuity of empowerment of the new middle class”, members from the treasury bench termed the union budget as a ‘dream budget’, Opposition, especially Congress called Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget “underwhelming” and “copied from Congress’s Nyay Patra”.
- PM Narendra Modi says 25 crore people came out of poverty in last 10 year
- Budget 2024 fortifies Bharat’s newfound sense of purpose, hope, optimism: Shah
- It is an underwhelming budget: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
- This is a kursi bachao budget: TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee
- Disappointing budget, says SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav
- Budget ignores Jharkhand completely: Congress leader Rajesh Thakur
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget 2024-2025 on Tuesday in Parliament.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “This Budget strengthens every section of the society. It takes the country’s poor, village and farmer on the path of prosperity. In the last 10 years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty. This is a budget of continuity of empowerment of the new middle class.”
Budget not only exemplifies Bharat’s newfound sense of purpose, hope, optimism under Modi government, but also fortifies them, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said.
“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.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2024
Rahul Gandhi calls Budget ‘Kursi Bachao’ Taking to X, he said, “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.”
आम लोगों को जिन चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है, उसके बारे में बजट में कोई बात नहीं की गई है. मनरेगा का कोई ज़िक्र नहीं हुआ. ऐसा कोई कदम नहीं उठाया गया है जिससे आम लोगों की आय में बढ़ोतरी हो. #Budget2024 #Nirmalasitaraman pic.twitter.com/fn9w8mCd5j
— Praveen Meena (@praveenmfacts) July 23, 2024
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the budget failed to address key issues like income disparity. “It is an underwhelming budget. I didn’t hear anything about key issues facing the common man. There is no mention of MNREGA and insufficient mention of steps taken to improve the income of a common person. We have seen far too little from the government on addressing income disparity,” Tharoor said . He added only a token gesture has been made in terms of job creation. ”I welcome only one provision which is abolishing the tax on angel investors. I had recommended it to Arun Jaitley more than five years ago,” he said.
#WATCH | Delhi | On Union Budget, TMC MP says Kalyan Banerjee says, "This is a 'kursi bachao' budget." pic.twitter.com/YJ4ocerVAT
— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2024
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said it was ‘kursi bachao’ budget. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed it a “bundle of despair”. SP MP Dimple Yadav said the budget did not address issues regarding women’s safety. “The main concern regarding women is their safety and this issue has not been addressed. The government does not want to take any steps to control inflation. Purchasing power in rural areas is constantly reducing,” she said.
Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram took a dig at the finance minister and said he was glad that she read the Congress’s manifesto. “I am glad to know that the Hon’ble FM has read the Congress Manifesto LS 2024 after the election results. I am happy she has virtually adopted the Employment-linked incentive (ELI) outlined on page 30 of the Congress Manifesto. I am also happy that she has introduced the Apprenticeship scheme along with an allowance to every apprentice spelt out on page 11 of the Congress Manifesto. I wish the FM had copied some other ideas in the Congress Manifesto,” he tweeted.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore also said the budget has more or less copied the Congress manifesto. He added the government has denied ‘special category’ status for Andhra Pradesh.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Union Budget, claiming that it has ignored the interests of the youth and farmers.
He linked Ms. Sitharaman’s announcements of several development measures for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to the BJP’s political compulsion to “save” its government and asked if there was anything for Uttar Pradesh.
The State has no “mandi” for farmers, and the budget’s announcement for the highway from Buxar in Bihar should have included an extension to the Purvanchal Expressway, he said.
Yadav also said that youth want permanent jobs and not short-term measures like internships. “Will reservation be given for these short-term employment initiatives,” he asked.
SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav noted that Sitharaman did not even name Uttar Pradesh once in her speech.
He asked, “Can India be developed without developing Uttar Pradesh? Agriculture has been overlooked and there was nothing on rural development.”
“Agriculture sector has the lowest allocation. This is a disappointing budget. You cannot give employment by just giving internship,” he said.
Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD leader Rabri Devi said that the announcement of ₹26,000 crore of support allocated to Bihar for the development of crucial projects including road connectivity and infrastructure is a “jhunjhuna.”
Ms. Devi said, “The flood situation displaced so many people, many lost their homes and precious belongings in the floodwaters after the rain. Murders and thefts are happening in the state. Labourers are not getting their wages. Youth are not getting employment and farmer issues persist.”
“Farmers’ fertilisers and seeds should be made cheaper, and inflation should be stopped. The costs of petrol and diesel are high and farmers don’t even get electricity. ₹26,000 crore allotted to Bihar is a ‘jhunjhuna,” she said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the budget laid down a “solid roadmap to maintain India’s growth momentum”.
He added that schemes such as PM’s Package for Employment and Skilling, one crore paid internship opportunities, and employment-linked incentives will be game changers.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said Maharashtra was not mentioned even once by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union budget speech, and alleged bias against the state despite being the largest taxpayer. In a post on X, Thackeray added, “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? What did we get against what we contributed?” “Was Maharashtra mentioned even once in the budget? Why does the BJP hate and insult Maharashtra so much? This isn’t the first time, through the entire past decade of BJP’s government, we have seen this bias against Maharashtra.”
Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says, “No INDIA alliance governments got anything. No opposition parties got anything including Karnataka. It is unfortunate and I never expected this from FM Nirmala Sitharaman.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday dubbed the Union Budget 2024-25 as “politically biased and anti-poor” and slammed the Centre for “depriving” the state.
“Bengal has been completely deprived in this Union budget. This doesn’t look into the interest of the poor. The budget is politically biased. This is directionless and has no vision. It is only to serve a political mission,” she told reporters on the state assembly premises.
While speaking to reporters, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “In the last 10 years, crores of Indians are suffering from inflation. Everyone will see what is done to curtail inflation. Farmers have been demanding MSP for a long time now… NDA allies are also demanding to revoke the Agniveer Scheme… Employment, MSP, and inflation will be the major areas where the main focus will be… I can leak the budget of Delhi now. For the last 9 years, Delhi has not been receiving more than ₹325 crores for the sole reason that the people of Delhi elected AAP…”
