Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday dubbed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as a ‘kursi bachao’ budget, saying it only appeases allies and cronies and is a copy and paste of the grand old party’s manifesto.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, said, “‘Kursi Bachao’ Budget.”
Training his guns on the government, Rahul Gandhi said, “Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian.”
He also took a jibe at the government for copying some sections of the grand old party’s manifesto, and said, “Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets.”
Even party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal dubbed the budget as a ‘sarkar bachao’ budget.
In a tweet, Venugopal said, “The Union Budget is nothing but a Sarkar Bachao Budget, driven by the political compulsions for the survival of this lame duck government.”
Training his guns on the government, the Congress leader said, “This will do nothing to address inflation, nothing to solve the farmers’ crisis, and absolutely nothing for the middle classes. Much like the 10 budgets, this Union Budget is also far removed from the concerns of the ordinary Indian.”
He also said that while the government has belatedly recognized that job creation is the need of the hour, its so-called announcements are totally insincere and non-serious.
“They could not even properly copy from our Nyay Patra,” he said.
“Merely throwing large headline numbers, while giving pittances in reality, is nothing but a cruel joke on the future of India’s youth. Every segment of Indian society is going to be in an even worse situation after this budget, and this government that is completely cut off from the pain of the people will simply be concerned about its survival,” Venugopal added.
The remarks came after Sitharaman on Tuesday presented the Union Budget of the NDA 3.0 government.