Rahul finds Budget hollow, Kejriwal says nothing for Delhi

Feb 1, 2020

New Delhi: (IANS) Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday expressed disappointment with the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Karnataka unit of the Congress slammed the Government for deciding to sell its stakes in LIC.

Gandhi said there is nothing concrete in the budget as the biggest problem in front of the country is unemployment and the government has not addressed that.

“This is the mindset of the government — all talk and nothing concrete. The biggest problem our youngsters are facing is unemployment and I didn’t see any strategic idea as how they will get jobs,” said Rahul Gandhi.

In more than two-hour long speech, many things were repetitive and redundant, he said and added, the government said it was simplifying the tax regime but made it more complex.

Critical of the budget, the Congress has demanded farm loan waiver as the UPA did in 2008.

The Congress also wanted that the government should tell in the budget document how it would contain unemployment that was at the all-time high and food inflation, which had crossed 14 per cent.

Kejriwal said the Union Budget has proved that the national capital is not in BJP’s priority list, as he questioned why people should vote for the saffron party when it has disappointed the city just before the Assembly elections.

“Delhi had high expectations from the Budget. But once again Delhiites received stepmotherly treatment. Delhi is not part of BJP’s priority list, so why should its people vote for them? Also, if the BJP disappoints Delhi like this before the elections, will it keep its promises after the polls,” the Chief Minister asked in a tweet in Hindi.

Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has been demanding more funds from the Centre for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the city since the past several years.