A ‘Superficial’ Document

With the Union Budget allocating special packages for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, both ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allies—Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United)—the Opposition dubbed it as a Budget for the Modi government’s survival, and “discriminatory”—against states that were not ruled by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

“Kursi Bachao Budget. Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets,” Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said in a post on X.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described it as a copycat Budget but said it “could not even copy the Congress’ Nyay Patra properly. The Modi government’s Budget is distributing half-hearted ‘rewadis (freebies)’ to dupe its coalition partners so that the NDA survives.” He said after 10 years, limited announcements have been made for the youth, and only “superficial” steps have been taken for farmers.

Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had adopted certain schemes from the Congress manifesto. He, too, took to X to say: “I am glad to know that the Hon’ble FM has read the Congress Manifesto LS 2024 after the election results. I am happy she has virtually adopted the Employment-linked incentive (ELI) 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 spelt out on page 11 of the Congress Manifesto. I wish the FM had copied some other ideas in the Congress Manifesto. I shall shortly list the missed opportunities.”

Another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh agreed that the finance minister has taken a leaf out of Congress’ Nyay Patra 2024, with its internship programme modelled on Congress’ proposed apprenticeship programme called ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’, but went on to say that the scheme has been designed to “grab headlines with arbitrary targets”.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also described the announcements for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar as a political manoeuvre to maintain the alliance and ‘save’ its government. He asked why the government had no special schemes for farmers of Uttar Pradesh. While the government unveiled steps to address joblessness, Yadav said short-term measures such as internships for the youth would not solve the unemployment crisis.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee described the Budget as “totally directionless, anti-people”, with only a political mission. While TMC leaders asked why West Bengal was ignored, Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi said the Budget did not provide anything to the people of Delhi. “We demanded for a 5 per cent share on the taxes paid to the Centre for the development of the state but they did not give us anything. We also asked for a budgetary allocation to MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi], but even that was not given.”

RJD’s Manoj Jha said the announcements for Bihar were routine and castigated the Central government for its refusal to give special status to the state.

On the lines of other Opposition parties, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Budget was a “Pradhan Mantri Sarkar Bachao Yojana”.

Budget 2024CongressMallikarjun KhargeOppositionP ChidambaramUnion Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman