Budget 2024-25: Opposition calls it 'visionless'

New Delhi: Opposition on Thursday described the Narendra Modi government's interim budget as "visionless", "tiresome repetition of boastful claims" and one which is aimed at "enriching the rich by squeezing the poor".

They accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of not talking about price rise and unemployment while her budget carries forward the "vicious 'development model' of the Modi government which squeezes the livelihood of the vast majority of India’s working people to favour the maximisation of profits for the few".

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the interim budget "lacked vision and accountability" and that the Modi government has "only shown big dreams to people without any intention" to fulfil them.

“Schemes are re-launched by changing names. But it is not told what happened to the old promises? How will the new dreams being shown get fulfilled?” he said while dismissing claims that income of common people has increased as "a lie".

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said there has been "a tiresome repetition of boastful claims" by the government on how India has surged forward in the last 5-10 years.

He said the Finance Minister spoke about youth, women and farmers but did not acknowledge "rampant unemployment" or "unpaid employment" or how "unhappy" the farmers are. "By deliberate neglect over the last 10 years, the government has destroyed the demographic dividend story and dashed the hopes of millions of youth and their families," he said.

The "fundamental flaw" with NDA's approach to the economy and governance is that it is "biassed in favour of the rich", he said adding, "....income inequality has widened significantly in the last 10 years. This outcome is because of the lower growth rate during the 10 year period (2014 - 2024) as against the UPA period (2004 – 2014)."

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the budget "reveals the grim economic situation" confronting India’s working people and the "vicious face" of the Modi government’s conception of development, which is "designed to make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer". He said people expected some relief from the budget but in its place they got one which makes the poor poorer.

Senior DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said the Finance Minister took a long time to "hail praises but delivery was zero...Nothing much has happened in the last ten years. The people of the country are already disappointed. Moreover, you realise that performance incentives are given to the bridge companies, and not going to the deserving ones."

AAP's Swati Maliwal said it was a "disappointing" budget, as there were no proposals to address rising inflation and unemployment. RSP's NK Premachandran said the minister spoke about the achievements of the last ten years but there is no vision for the future, as it is "just an eloquent speech and nothing else".

CPI General Secretary D Raja said the budget speech was "disconnected with micro-reality" and was focused on presenting a rosy picture of the economy before elections. BJP has shown loyalty to corporates continuously by slashing corporate tax. Borrowings are at record high and common people are suffering with high inflation. Disappointing."