Many Opposition parties criticised the Budget on Monday saying it had nothing for the common man.
The CPI(M) and CPI blamed the Government for going on a “selling spree” of public sector institutions while the Samajwadi Party said the Budget proposals will increase problems for farmers and the common. The BSP said there is nothing attractive in the Budget for the common man and workers even as BJP’s one-time ally Shiv Sena said that the budget failed and disappointed the common man
“The Union Budget 2021-22 is a betrayal of the people caught in the double crisis of pandemic and recession,” CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.
The CPI(M) polit bureau in a statement said: “It is a classic illustration of the Modi Government’s unshakeable commitment to promoting the interests of a handful of big business houses at the expense of increasing distress and misery for the working people. This is reflected in the refusal of the Government to increase public expenditure notwithstanding its bombastic claims. The budgeted Central Government’s total expenditure of 34.8 lakh crores in 2021-22 is identical in nominal terms to that in 2020-21 - which amounts to slashing expenditure in real terms. This represents the complete abrogation by the Government of its responsibility towards the people but shoring up the fortunes of a privileged few including through their greater control over the nation’s productive assets.”
The CPI(M) said that the panacea for “this Government is to sell off India’s national assets and privatize even profit making public sector companies. The monetisation project announced in the budget included sale of valuable land held at present by public sector companies. The target is to mobilise 1.75 lakh crores through disinvestment. The increase in FDI in insurance to 74 per cent is highly objectionable. This drive for privatisation is a subversion of the national interests and a mockery of the slogan of atma nirbharta, said CPI(M).
CPI general secretary D Raja said: “This budget is the continuation of the aggressive, pro- corporate economic policies the Modi government has been pursuing. It is a pro-corporate, pro-big businesses budget. It is pro-international finance capital, the FDI. So, this budget has nothing for the poor, for the suffering masses.”
Reacting to the Union Budget Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said that crores of poor people,farmers and working class of the country are tired of attractive promises and hollow claims. She said it would be better if the government implemented its stated policies on the ground. “Will the budget of the Central Government presented in Parliament today be able to deal with poverty, unemployment and inflation, etc?. On this basis, the activities of the government and this Budget will be judged,” Mayawati said in a tweet.
The Samajwadi Party said that the Modi government has “lost its credibility” and accused the BJP of working for corporates. “Its (BJP’s) every move is aimed at snatching away everything from the common man and giving it to the corporate groups. Its budget is also directly and indirectly dedicated to corporate groups,” Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and senior SP leader, Ram Govind Chowdhury, alleged in a statement.
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said the budget is disappointing and fails to address the concerns of the citizens of the country- be it farmers, entrepreneurs, youth, women or children. “The government has yet again overlooked the Aam Janta which was the most affected due to the COVID impact and the lockdown,” Chaturvedi said.
She alleged the push to creating new infrastructure and boost connectivity is appreciable but was sadly reduced to concentrate only on the election going states of 2021 very similar to free COVID vaccine promised during the Bihar elections. She also alleged there has been a step motherly treatment to Mumbai after taking away IFSC from the financial capital of the country. “For the first time in a budget speech the Finance Minister chose not to mention Defence at all when more surprising as our Indian soldiers continue to face off China and they continue to illegally occupy and build on our territory,” she added in Press statement.