New Delhi: The Congress, which had said on Monday it had no hope from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, slammed the Union Budget 2024-25 on Tuesday saying the annual financial statement had nothing for the farmers, poor and youth, who have been suffering due to the policies of the Modi government over the past 10 years.
“It is a zero-sum budget which offers nothing for the farmers, poor and youth. These constitute around 60 percent of the population and have been suffering due to the policies of the Modi government over the past decade. They had high hopes that the budget 2024-25 will provide some relief to them. But there is no MSP guarantee or relief from debt or reduced cost of diesel and fertilizers for the farmers,” Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala told ETV Bharat.
“For the youth there are no avenues for job creation, only an internship for around 20 lakh youth in a year. This idea itself has been taken from the Congress 2024 poll manifesto which assured the first job to the apprentices. There is nothing for the unorganized sector. Can Rs 15000 for them in three instalments create jobs in that sector. Why is there no incentive for the labour-intensive sectors like textiles and construction which generate jobs,” he said.
According to Surjewala, a CWC member, “There was no mention of the SC/ST in the budget as the community did not vote for the BJP in the national elections. This showed their anti-Dalit stance. As far as the middle class was concerned, there had been no income tax relief for them over the past 10 years in the form of tax exemption slab or some rebate. The poor have been left to fend themselves with the 5 kg free rations they get.”
Noting the Lok Sabha poll losses suffered by the BJP had an impact on the first budget of Modi government 3.0, the AICC functionary further said, “There was no mention of states like Maharashtra, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan where the BJP performed badly. The same goes for Karnataka and Telangana which have a Congress government. For Bihar and Andhra Pradesh where they have an NDA and ally TDP government, there is only a five-year assurance so they remain hopeful but actually don’t get anything.”
According to Punjab Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Amarinder Singh Brar the Budget focussed on Bihar and Andhra Pradesh majorly as they are ruled by parties friendly to the BJP. “Why was Punjab not mentioned even once. We are the food bowl of the country and have a lot of security related issues being a state bordering Pakistan. They also did not mention Kerala as we had won there. I want a mention of Punjab in the review budget,” Brar told ETV Bharat.
According to AICC functionary BM Sandeep Kumar, it was good that the finance minister had read the Congress manifesto. “The FM has adopted the Employment-linked incentive (ELI) of the Congress manifesto. She introduced the apprenticeship scheme along with an allowance to every apprentice but there are several lost opportunities. Our manifesto had detailed guarantees for all sections of society which would have given a boost to the economy,” Kumar told ETV Bharat.
