New Delhi, Feb 1: The Union Budget on Monday evoked contrasting responses in the political arena with the ruling BJP hailing it as a vision for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and the Opposition describing it as a “let down like never before” that was meant to “deceive” people.
Asserting that villages and farmers are at the heart of the Union Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it has put a lot of emphasis on strengthening the farming sector and increasing farmers’ income while making an allocation to further empower agriculture mandis. In a televised message after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget, Modi said it has many provisions for the agriculture sector, including for making loans easier for farmers.
While BJP president JP Nadda lauded the Budget for being “all-inclusive”, touching every section of society, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that “forget putting cash in the hands of people, the Modi government plans to hand over India’s assets to his crony capitalist friends”.
The Congress, however, was scathing in its criticism of the Budget and claimed that it will unravel soon. The Opposition party alleged that the Budget had deceived the people, as it described the imposition of cess on petrol and diesel in the Budget as a “vengeful act” against the thousands of farmers who took out the tractor rally.
Left parties also hit out at the government over the Budget, terming it as “rhetoric” and stated that it only benefits the corporates. – PTI
