NEW DELHI, 29 Jul: Opposition parties on Monday tore into the Union Budget saying most of the states have got nothing in the first major economic document of the Modi 3.0 government.
Treasury benches on the other hand lauded the Rs. 48.2 lakh crore Union Budget presented in Parliament on July 23 saying the country has made all-round development.
Participating in the general discussion on the budget, senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi reeled out data on GDP growth, rising foreign exchange reserves, declining fiscal deficit and a sharp increase in foreign remittances to highlight the achievements of the government on the economic front.
Seeking to counter the charges levelled by opposition parties during the discussion regarding government favouring corporates, Trivedi said the corporate taxes have been reduced to make the industry competitive.
He pointed out that global MNCs are shifting away their base from China where corporate tax is 25 per cent.
The BJP leader also lauded the central government’s work on controlling inflation.
On the Congress party’s charge that no person belonging to SC, ST and OBC was present at the traditional ‘halwa ceremony’ held before the budget, he said, “Ye woh log pooch rahe hain, jo 60 saal se khate rahe halwa aur janta ko khilate rahe balua. (Such remarks are being made by those who keep relishing halwa for 60 years but gave nothing to the people).”
He also asked how many OBC ministers were there in the Cabinet of the UPA government in 2004.
Congress member Imran Pratapgarhi said the budget has done injustice to states, youth, farmers, women and the middle class.
He said the finance minister has spoken only 10 words on inflation at a time when tomato prices have skyrocketed to Rs. 100 per kg.
Pratapgarhi described the budget as “jhoot ka pulinda” (pack of lies) and a compilation of Prime Minister’s ‘Mann Ki Baat.’
The Congress member also took on the BJP for controversy related to the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to display names of street vendors in the route of Kaanwar Yatra.
IUML Abdul Wahab said the budget has nothing for Kerala. He demanded that the MPLAD fund should be increased to at least Rs. 10-15 crore from the current Rs. 5 crore annually.
Sanjay Raut (SS-UBT) said when there is no reference of Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha, Delhi, West Bengal and Jharkhand, then how can such a budget be termed as ‘Union Budget.’
“As our Prime Minister say I am non-biological … same way this a non-biological budget,” Raut said.
In an apparent reference to budget allocations to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, he said the results of the Lok Sabha elections have a bearing on the budget.
He said farmers should get MSP, but in reality, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have got “minimum support price.”
Congress MP Rajeev Shukla criticized the budget on several counts and made a strong case for a review of several provisions in the GST law to help the MSME sector.
He also said there is huge unemployment in the country and its impact was visible on the BJP’s Lok Sabha seas tally.
Shukla wondered how jobs will be generated when the capital expenditure has been reduced by Rs. 1 lakh crore.
John Brittas (CPI-M) too took a jibe at the Modi-government, saying the finance minister has achieved a “rare feat” of presenting the budget of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in parliament, and added next year, she can present the budget of Haryana and Maharashtra.
He further said the finance minister has redefined the NDA as ‘Nitish Naidu Dependent’ alliance. (PTI)
