The ruling BJP Government and its allies on Friday welcomed the Interim Union Budget presented by Piyush Goyal as catering to all sections of the society with party president Amit Shah affirming that it underscored the Modi Government’s dedication to the aspirations of the country’s youth, farmers and the poor, Union Minister Rajnath Singh calling it “historic” and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan terming it a “second surgical strike”.
Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said this is a budget which could have only been conceived and visualised by a Prime Minister like Narendra Modi, who has lived through the hardship and constraints of the lower middle class.
Singh said the relief provided to the salaried class by way of increasing the tax-exemption limit as well as the standard deduction limit will be universally welcomed by all sections of society across the country.
Rajnath said, “It’s a historic budget, and all the sections of the society will benefit from it.”
BJP president hailed it for “benefiting” all sections of society and said it has proved that the Modi Government is dedicated to the aspirations of the country’s youths, farmers and poor. He said the budget touches everybody, will spur growth and generate employment and also praised the Government for “maintaining” fiscal discipline.
“This budget gives relief to every section of society in some way,” he said, referring to its announcements and schemes for farmers, unorganised sector workers and income tax payers.
With its sops for farmers and the middle class— two crucial voting blocs— among others, the BJP believes that the budget will woo them ahead of the Lok Sabha election, he said.
Shah termed the raising of income tax exemption to Rs5 lakh as “historic”, saying the Modi Government has surpassed the expectation of the middle class by announcing a number of concessions for it.
The decision to provide Rs6,000 annually to farmers will be a “milestone” towards meeting the Government’s goal of doubling their income by 2022, he said, adding that a loan waiver helps peasants only once and merely those who take loans while this scheme will benefit all of them and every year.
The increase in budgetary allocation for the Northeastern states by over 21 per cent shows the Government’s commitment to the remote region which, he said, has seen a big boost to its rail and air connectivity under its tenure, said Shah.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said it is a budget for the New India and further strengthens Modi’s resolve to bridge the rural-urban divide. He said it is Pro-poor, pro-middle class, po-farmer and pro-development budget. “It gives unprecedented attention to the aspirations of New India”, he claimed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devednra Fadnavis said “Today’s this budget is a gift to farmers , labourers, women& middle class of India.The defence budget was enhanced beyond Rs3 lakh crore, a first in history of India. Statesmen don’t talk about only 1 yr. The budget has created a blueprint of India of 2030. #Budget2019”, he said.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the budget is all inclusive. “ All sections of the society including farmers, middle class, poor & women have been mentioned in this budget. This budget will help achieve the dream of a ‘New India’”, he said.
In a riposte to Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram remark ‘It’s not vote on account but an account for votes’, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “We don’t do politics to form Government but to make the nation. PM had not taken such strong decisions in last 4 yrs if we had only cared about vote”.
BJP ally and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan dubbed the budget as the Government’s “second surgical strike”, saying the first used bullets against the country’s external enemies
Hailing the Prime Minister, he said the budget has provided relief to farmers, income taxpayers and significantly enhanced expenditure for scheduled castes, tribes and the poor.