NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (IANS): Expressing disappointment over the general budget presented Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it was "verbose" and lacking in substance.
"The budget is verbose but on substance, extremely low," said Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley.
"First put the economy in distress; then a helpless finance minister comes out with a budget in which he has very little elbow space," Jaitley said.
According to him, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram "made cosmetic changes in different heads of taxation or different expenditure".
He added that the minister indulged in a "little bit of jugglery, by marginally increasing taxes in certain ministries and substantially reduces expenditure".
Jaitley said the budget contained little to offer a boost to agriculture or manufacturing sectors, which are vital for sustainable growth.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj called the budget "unimaginative".
"It is an unimaginative and dull budget. Everybody expected the budget - as it comes before the next elections - to bring hope to the nation. But we all are very much disappointed. 'Aam aadmi' (common man) has not been named even once in the budget."
"Agriculture and manufacturing should have been the focus along with decrease in price rise, but everybody is disappointed," Sushma Swaraj said.
She termed the finance minister's proposal of all-women bank as being "cosmetic", adding the budget did not offer any scheme for job generation.
"The finance minister did not see the face of the farmer or the aam aadmi, who voted the government to power," she said.
BJP leader Balbir Punj said the budget was an "accountant's work", which failed to ignite the economy.
"The budget is an instrument through which the government can kick-start the economy. This is purely an accountant's work with sops and little tax here and there. But the primary objective of the budget is that it should be able to ignite the economy. And this budget is a big disappointment as far as this main expectation from it is concerned," Punj said.
