NEW DELHI, July 23: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a “copycat” and alleged that it is not for the progress of the country but to save the Modi Government.
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In a post in Hindi on X, Congress chief Kharge said, “The Modi Government’s ‘copycat budget’ 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.”
“This is not a budget for the ‘progress of the country’, it is a ‘save Modi Government’ budget!” he said.
He said after 10 years, limited announcements have been made for the youth who are bearing the brunt of the “slogan of two crore jobs per year”.
“Only superficial talks have been held for farmers — one and a half times MSP and doubling of income — all turned out to be electoral fraud! This government has no intention of increasing rural wages,” Kharge said in the post.
“There is no revolutionary scheme for Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes, minorities, middle class and rural poor people like the one implemented by the Congress-led UPA. The word ‘poor’ has become just a means of self-branding, there is nothing concrete!” the Congress chief alleged.
“There is nothing in this budget for women that would enhance their economic capacity and enable them to participate more and more in the workforce,” he said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday dubbed the Union Budget a “kursi bachao budget” and claimed it makes “hollow promises” to BJP allies at the cost of other states.
The former Congress chief also claimed that the budget was “copy and paste” job of the Congress manifesto for 2024 polls and previous budgets.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, ” ‘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.”
The Congress also slammed the Union Budget as being “more focused on posturing than action” and claimed that the “copy-paste government” has borrowed heavily from the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition party in its post claimed that the Government had “tacitly” admitted that “mass unemployment is a national crisis”, and said the budget has “political compulsions written all over it”. (PTI)