New Delhi: Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday minced no words in slamming the Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Gandhi termed the Union Budget and termed it as a "band-aid for bullet wounds.
He also said that the Narendra Modi government was "bankrupt of ideas". Rahul, who is a Lok Sabha member from Raebareli, said that solving the economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift.
A band-aid for bullet wounds!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 1, 2025
Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift.
But this government is bankrupt of ideas.
"A band-aid for bullet wounds! Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift. But this government is bankrupt of ideas," Gandhi said in a post on X.
The Congress earlier criticised the Union Budget as bereft of cure to "illnesses" of stagnant real wages, lack of buoyancy in mass consumption, sluggish rates of private investment, and a complicated GST system that the economy is suffering from.
It also accused the Narendra Modi government of appearing to offer "bonanza" to Bihar, governed by National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Nitish Kumar, and "cruelly" ignoring Andhra Pradesh, another pillar of the same alliance. Bihar goes to polls in 2025.
In a post on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, "Bihar appears to have got a bonanza of announcements. It is natural since elections are due there later in the year. But why has the other pillar of the NDA, namely Andhra Pradesh,been so cruelly ignored?"
Senior Congress leader and MP KC Venugopal also slammed the Union Budget saying it was a reading of mundane circulars.
"The Union Budget was, for most parts, a reading of mundane circulars and minor tinkering that will do nothing to revive India’s tottering economy. For 11 years in a row, the Government has tried to hoodwink the public by giving empty slogans, with no vision or relief for the poor and marginalised sections of society," Venugopal said.
"No vision for job creation, nothing to improve India’s investment climate, no MSP guarantee for farmers and no strategy to counter the massive inflation destroying budgets of middle-class households. Moreover, this budget shows yet another attempt at destroying MGNREGA as the Centre failed to increase the budget allocated for the scheme that provides a safety net for crores of Indians," he said.
"The changes in income tax also are minor course corrections after massive tax terrorism and other disastrous policies that the Government itself unleashed on the middle class, which LOP Rahul Gandhi ji has been routinely exposing across various sectors. The Budget has sent a message that this government is only capable of indulging in election-related gimmicks for their politics, but cannot address the severe economic distress being experienced across the country today," the senior Congress leader added.
