From Rahul Gandhi to Mamata Banerjee, politicians react to Budget 2019

Rahul Gandhi

Acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the Union Budget for 2019-20 in the Parliament on Friday. The government unveiled the development vision for the next decade and said that it will focus on ten key areas including job creation, physical and social infrastructure building, pollution-free nation and clean rivers.

From Congress President Rahul Gandhi to Mamata Banerjee, politicians have expressed their views on the Budget which was presented on Friday.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi called this the 'AakhriJumlaBudget' and addressed Narendra Modi as 'NoMo'. He tweeted, "Dear NoMo,5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs. 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for. #AakhriJumlaBudget."

West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee said, "This govt has no moral authority or responsibility to place the budget for 5 years when they'll not be in power; the govt will go for expiry. After expiry, if you give medicine, is there any value? What will be the value? This is absolutely valueless."

HD Kumaraswamy, who is the Chief Minister of Karnataka said that the budget was prepared by Narendra Modi's friends. "I want to ask if this budget was prepared by officials of Finance dept or RSS? In this budget, Narendra Modi has given cotton candy for farmers. When I announced the loan waiver scheme, PM mocked it like a lollipop. Friends of BJP have prepared this budget," he said.

Lok Sabha speaker, Sumitra Mahajan was satisfied with the budget and said, "This budget is for everyone and is a good one. Work will go on like this."

P Chidambaram commented and said that the budget is not a vote on account but it is an account for votes. "My one-line comment on the budget is that it is not a vote on account but an account for votes," he said. He added, "The Interim Finance Minister tested our patience by the longest interim budget speech in the recent memory. It was not an interim budget, it was a full-fledged budget accompanied by an election campaign speech."

However, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took Narendra Modi's side and said, "Opposition has no issues to talk about, they are scared of Modi Ji's welfare schemes. We don't do vote bank politics, we do development politics. We are dedicated to taking Indian farmers to new heights."

"The budget has met the expectations of farmers, labourers & middle class. By bearing a cost of Rs 75,000 crore, the government will implement Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. This scheme will also benefit those farmers who do not take loans," said BJP Chief Amit Shah.

Congress Minister Shashi Tharoor said, "The whole exercise has turned out to be a damp squib. We've seen one good thing that is tax exemption for the middle class. Rs 6000 in income support for farmers boils down to Rs 500 per month. Is that supposed to enable them to live with the honour&dignity?"

Home Minister Rajnath Singh called it a historic budget and said that all sections of the society will benefit from it.

(with inputs from ANI)

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