'Kursi bachao budget': Oppn says states ruled by it ignored, slams BJP for appeasing allies

New Delhi: The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a "kursi bachao budget" driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to "appease" BJP's allies.

The Congress slammed the Budget as being "more focused on posturing than action" and claimed that the "copy-paste government" borrowed heavily from the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.

The attack by opposition parties came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget in the Lok Sabha.

Sitharaman announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states-run by her party's new coalition partners.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi 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 his party's manifesto for the 2024 polls and previous budgets.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge termed the budget "copycat" and alleged that it is not for the progress of the country but to "save the Modi government".

In a post in Hindi on X, Congress president Mallikarjun 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 the NDA survives."

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.

"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.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "After 10 years of denial -- where neither the non-biological PM nor his party's Lok Sabha Elections Manifesto would even mention jobs -- the Union Government seems to have finally come around to tacitly admitting that mass unemployment is a national crisis that requires urgent attention."

"It's far too late, and as it turns out, far too little - the Budget speech is more focused on posturing than action," he said in a post on X.

Ramesh claimed that Sitharaman has taken a leaf out of the Congress' 2024 Lok Sabha polls manifesto by announcing an internship programme but "in their trademark style", the scheme has been designed to "grab headlines with arbitrary targets" rather than a programmatic guarantee.

Former finance minister and senior Congress leader and P Chidambaram also took a swipe at the government over the Union Budget, saying he is glad that Finance Minister Sitharaman has read the Congress 2024 manifesto after the Lok Sabha poll results.

Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said the political message of the budget was the tail wagging the dog. "It has political compulsions written all over it," he said.

Congress MPs from Punjab and Maha Vikas Aghadi MPs from Maharashtra protested, alleging that their states had been ignored and discriminated in the budget.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Budget, claiming that it has ignored the interests of the youth and farmers.

Speaking to reporters, Yadav linked Sitharaman's announcements of several development measures for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to the BJP's political compulsion to "save" its government and asked if there was anything for Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.

Andhra Pradesh's ruling TDP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) are crucial BJP allies in the government and have been pushing for financial assistance to their states.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dubbed the Union Budget 2024-25 as "politically biased and anti-poor" and slammed the Centre for "depriving" her state.

The chief minister wondered what wrong West Bengal committed that it had been "deprived" by the Centre.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee told reporters here that "the net result is zero because Bengal has been constantly tortured and deprived."

"You have seen how Bengal has been consistently deprived by this BJP government. Has there been a positive outcome of 12 BJP MPs elected from Bengal?" Banerjee said outside the Parliament complex.

Recalling Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's words "Jo Hamare Saath, Hum Unke Saath (we will be on the side of those who support us)", the Diamond Harbour MP said, "What he said has been proved today."

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi termed the budget " 'Pradhan Mantri Sarkar Bachao Yojana".

"I will give a title to this Budget - 'Pradhan Mantri Sarkar Bachao Yojana'. In an attempt to save their government for five years, they have given a package to their alliance partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. They should be ashamed... they have two alliance partners in Maharashtra. Maharashtra is the biggest tax-paying state, but it has never received funds from the Centre. Don't we have infrastructure needs?" Chaturvedi said.

Inputs from PTI.