India not in 'Amrit Kaal' but in 'Rahu Kaal' since 2014, says Sibal

Opposition on Wednesday attacked the government on the Budget that "lacks a vision and long term plan" with senior Congress MP Kapil Sibal alleging that the country is experiencing 'rahu kaal' and not an 'Amrit Kaal' since 2014 when the Narendra Modi government assumed power.

Participating in the general discussion on Budget, Sibal said the keywords in the Budget were digital, green, Made in India, capital expenditure and tax revenue among others but what was missing in the document were unemployment, poverty, food security, informal sector, migrant workers, daily wagers, health for all, welfare, social protection, women and youth.

Accusing the Modi government of not giving enough to the underprivileged resources to be 'Atma nirbhar' (self-sufficient), he said, "you speak about Amrit Kaal (golden period) in the Budget. Since 2014, I have been experiencing Rahu kaal (inauspicious time) and not Amrit kaal. Which Amrit Kaal are you talking about", he said.

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Referring to Modi's barb that the Congress leads the 'tukde-tukde gang', Sibal said, "Those who does 'tukde-tukde' (drive a wedge) of civilisation, those who do 'tukde-tukde' of history, those who do 'tukde-tukde' of Constitution, those who do 'tukde-tukde' of brotherhood, they are the leader of 'tukde-tukde' gang," he said.

"For who is this budget for? Is it for the one to two per cent of people at the top who can buy all the airports and ports?... You (Finance Minister) is looking at the skies, you should look at the ground," he said, adding, "this budget has no vision and a long term plan".

Emphasising the need for much bigger investment in research and development, Sibal said wealth is always created by universities and not by industries. He said giving benefits to industries will not create wealth. "Give students the freedom to think. Unless we invest in the university system to create intellectual property (IP), it is hard to create wealth", he said adding, he was requesting the BJP to field Sitaraman in an election so that she could find the ground realities.

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BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi countered the Opposition onslaught, saying the Finance Minister has passed from Jawaharlal Nehru University and not from Harvard Business School from where former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has a degree but she has managed to give a budget that is 100 times better than what the Congress leader could deliver during global economic crisis.

"Opposing" the "anti-people Budget aiming for all-out privatisation", CPI(M) Rajya Sabha floor leader Elamaram Kareem said unemployment is "so bad that there are job riots" in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh while millions have been pushed into poverty and there is rising inflation.

"In this scenario what was needed in the budget was a big push towards job creation and increasing domestic demand. But this budget failed miserably in addressing these issues. Union Budget 2022-23 has been presented in the overall background of a desperate and destructive privatisation drive forgetting the needs of the common man. The so-called “inclusive growth”, “financial inclusion” mentioned by the Finance Minister in her speech displays shameless hypocrisy of the Union Government," he said.

Trinamool Congress' Dola Sen said the Budget gave no assurance to the young, women, jobless migrants and MGNREGA workers. "When the government is trying to privatise everything it is time the government also is made private," she alleged.

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