Rahul Gandhi terms budget as high on rhetoric, Milind Deora lauds some proposals

Criticising Union Budget 2020 tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday (February 1), the Congress party said the government’s annual financial statement comprises piecemeal measures, repackaged schemes, jugglery of tax slabs and that it has no real solutions to solve the economic crisis.

Slamming Nirmala’s second budget, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the budget had no concrete idea to solve unemployment. “I didn’t see any concrete idea. It was all tactical stuff. It describes the government quite well.  A lot of repetition and rambling. It is the mindset of the government. All talk and nothing happening. The youth know that nothing was done to help their future”, he said.

Another Congress leader Anand Sharma too echoed Gandhi saying the budget is insipid and lacks stimulus for growth and that there is no clear road map for job creation.

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Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said that at a time when India is in the midst of an economic downturn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans budget speech focuses more on praising the Prime Minister rather than helping the common citizen. “Longest Budget speech is also the most lacklustre budget ever. After Acche Din, New India, it now appears that the government has also abandoned the target of USD 5 trillion economy,” Patel said.

The Congress, on its official Twitter handle, also said that core sector growth stood at 1.3 per cent in December, despite the significant fall from the same time last year, and that the budget has failed to layout a road map on how the government plans to address this serious issue.

However, Congress leader Milind Deora took to Twitter to welcome the reduced individual income-tax for various tax slabs. “Reducing individual income-tax for various tax slabs is a welcome step. Higher disposable income = higher consumer demand. I also welcome the decision to scrap Dividend Distribution Tax. It was a double tax & should have been abolished a long time ago,” he said.

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