Cong slams Budget as 'Sarkar Bachao' document driven by political compulsions for survival

New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) The Congress on Tuesday took a dig at the Centre over the Budget announcements for 2024-25 made in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, calling them nothing but a "Sarkar Bachao" Budget driven by the political compulsions for the survival of this "lame duck" government.

A hike in standard deduction in the new tax regime from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, revisions to tax slabs in the new regime, cut in Customs duty on gold and silver, three schemes under employment-linked incentives, and Rs 2 lakh crore for job creation were among the slew of measures announced by Niramala Sitharaman during her 80-minute Budget speech in the Parliament on Tuesday.

Reacting to it, Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said in a detailed post on X, "The Union Budget is nothing but a Sarkar Bachao Budget, driven by the political compulsions for the survival of this lame duck government.

Claiming that the Budget will do nothing to address inflation or solve the farmers’ crisis, the Congress leader said, "It has absolutely nothing for the middle classes. Much like the 10 (previous) Budgets, this Union Budget is also far removed from the concerns of the ordinary Indian.

"While the government has belatedly recognised that job creation is the need of the hour, its so-called announcements are totally insincere and non-serious. They could not even properly copy from our Nyay Patra."

According to Venugopal, merely throwing large headline numbers while giving pittances in reality is nothing but a cruel joke on the future of India’s youth.

"Every segment of the Indian society is going to be in an even worse situation after this Budget, and this government that is completely cut off from the pain of the people will simply be concerned about its survival," he said.

Another senior Congressman and former Union Finance Minister P.C. Chidambaram said that he is glad to see that Nirmala Sitharaman has read out the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“I am glad to know that the Hon'ble FM has read the Congress Manifesto for LS 2024 after the election results,” Chidambaram said in a post on X.

The Congress leader also said he is happy that the Finance Minister has virtually adopted the employment-linked incentive (ELI), which he claimed was outlined on page 30 of the Congress manifesto.

“I am also happy that she has introduced the apprenticeship scheme along with an allowance to every apprentice which was spelt out on page 11 of the Congress manifesto,” the former Finance Minister said.