Congress says big corporates main beneficiaries

“The budget is anti-poor and for big corporates. Again, the government has disappointed us with this vision-less budget,” Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge told media persons in his first reactions on the budget.

Accusing government of not taking adequate steps to bring black money back to the country, which he said was one of key poll promises of BJP-led NDA government, the Congress leader alleged that “flawed budget” will help businessmen to further amass illicit money in the country. 

Sharpening his attack on the Centre, Kharge said the government had completely neglected the “ongoing agrarian crisis’’ in rural India and added that it had reduced budgetary allocations for several social sector schemes. 

“We thought government will take a serious note about our loan-ridden farmers and would waive or cut their debt, due to which they are committing suicides but government has kept mum on that front as well,” he said. 

“There is nothing for commoners and for the middle class as well. Rs 3000 rebate, what kind of relief is this? Every section has been disappointed with his budget whether they are poor, women, farmers, small businessmen,” he added. 

“How will they build one lakh km of roads? Do they have money for it?” the Congress leader asked, adding that making big announcements is a different thing but turning them into reality is altogether different ballgame.

“Unfortunately, what is needed to be done has not been done. Biggest challenge which we face today is in employment and agriculture sectors. There is not anything on that,” Congress leader Kamal Nath said. 

It has failed to create an “immediate stimulus” to address challenges of employment generation and agriculture sector. “This is a budget of future clarifications. There is no immediate stimulus to create disposable income in the hands of people or to generate employment. 

Asserting that the budget was short of both “vision and conviction”, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi said a list of new promises have been made without any account of the “failure of tall promises made in last two budgets”. “Modiji spent the first two years mocking the Congress Party’s focus on farmers, MNREGA, Rural dev and social spending. Now mere rhetoric, without vision or action, will fool neither farmers nor the poor of this country,” Gandhi tweeted. 

He, however, thanked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for accepting his recommendation on removing import duty on Braille paper which will help the visually impaired.