GUWAHATI, Feb 6 - The opposition political parties today criticized the State Budget 2019-20 as an election gimmick ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary polls devoid of any genuine intent.
Rather than coming up with measures for long-term redressal of the people�s problems, it is more of an attempt at garnering votes for the BJP in the polls, the opposition parties contended.
Pointing out that the Budget was silent on safeguarding socio-political future of the Assamese people in the event of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, becoming an Act, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president and former minister Atul Bora told the media that the BJP Government in the State spares no opportunity to voice its commitment to safeguard �jati-mati-bheti� (community, homes and hearths) of the Assamese people but the Budget makes no mention of any concrete steps towards that end.
�Even if the Budget is implemented in its entirety as has been promised, how will that help the Assamese masses to safeguard their identity? All this will not be enough to save their socio-political and cultural rights,� he said.
Bora, whose party recently severed its ties with the BJP Government on the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, said that the Budget was nothing more than an election-centric exercise aimed at benefitting a section of the people � that too temporarily.
�It is clearly aimed at the forthcoming parliamentary polls. The all-important issue of Assam Accord implementation has been not given any importance as there is no mention of any special fund for the purpose. Nor is there any provision for addressing the grave issues of flood and erosion, and employment generation,� he said.
Congress leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Rakibul Hussain, while criticizing the Budget, said that the Government had already failed to keep its promises made earlier and the Budget had little that could enthuse the masses.
�In fact, the people are already a disillusioned lot, as they have seen how the Government not just failed to keep most of its promises but even backtracked on crucial issues like Bangladeshi detection and deportation,� he said.
He added that the Budget was silent on revenue generation and alleged that the Government was a bankrupt one and buried in debts.
Former Chief Minister and Congress legislator Tarun Gogoi also attacked the Budget on similar lines, terming it as having very little substance and one that aimed at garnering votes for election.
�The Government has totally failed to keep its assurances. The Budget does not have substance and remains distanced from the ground realities,� he said.
The AIUDF sounded a similar tone in lambasting the Budget, which it said contained little long-term intervention for resolving the burning issues plaguing the State.
�Clearly, the Government has an eye on the coming parliamentary polls only. The Budget contains a lot of announcements but those lack substance. And it remains to be seen how they go about the task of implementing those. The BJP-led Central Government, too, had announced a lot of measures but those have never fructified. We fear a similar fate with today�s announcements,� AIUDF legislator and spokesperson Hafiz Bashir Ahmed Quasimi said.
He added that the Budget failed to make any announcement concerning management of the State�s resources. �Twopaper mills which were linked to the livelihood of lakhs of families have closed down. Why cannot the Government attempt to revive those? It does not have a roadmap for addressing the genuine concerns of the people and make lives easier for them,� he said.
Quasimi further said that by making a clever shift from the practice of starting new schemes from the month of April and advancing those to March 1, the Government had left none in any doubt whatsoever that its intent was to win votes for the forthcoming parliamentary polls.