New Delhi: Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s ninth budget presentation on Monday was more like a farewell speech than an interim Budget presentation. Defending himself strongly, Chidambaram reiterated that he was not a failure as Finance Minister and read out a long list of achievements of the UPA-1 and UPA-2. But, the Opposition and industry have given interim budget a cold shoulder.
P Chidambaram
The BJP called it a farewell budget. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said, “His budget is practically a no budget. This is a farewell budget of a minister who has lost on all counts. Chidambaram gave the speech of his farewell. He was making us count his failures. There is no comparison between there 3 per cent of foreign country and ours. There is no direction in this budget. Food Security thing was not said and they decreased the subsidy of that. There is nothing for poor, women etc”.
The same sentiments were echoed by the Left front leaders. CPI MP D Raja said, “It is an interim budget and we should not read too much on this. This budget is placed before elections which will blow up some thing. Chidambaram tried this. It was UPA-1 which was backed by left parties other than this it was Congress. This government has brought the economy so a very bad shape. It is going to be challenging for any aovernment which will be formed. He has left the economy in deep crisis. People are wise enough to understand the economy of the country. He is leaving very bad legacy and an economy which is in deep crisis”.
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said, “Necessary correctives will have to come in next budget. This is populist in nature. In the long run this will hurt the economy, employment will go down and prices will rise”.
The BSP supremo Mayawati was harsh on Budget. “I have studied every point of the budget and I have concluded that there is nothing new in this budget. They have just announced their achievements. It won’t be much beneficial to the public,” she said
Attacking the Congress for taking credit for ‘one rank, one pension’ implementation, senior BJP leader and former finance minister Jaswant Singh said, “The Congress can claim credit for so many things. But, the truth is it is a demand of the BJP”.
Defence expert Bharat Verma too termed it a result of politics. He said, “One rank one pension has come out because of competitive politics. This happened because Rahul Gandhi intervened in this issue, which is the first good thing he has done so far. I don’t see the one rank one pension thing shifting ex-servicemen’s votes towards Congress. We have to see the 10 per cent hike. This Army should have ammunition for 40 days, but it only has ammunition for 15 days. Army cannot fight for more than 1.5 days. Air force today does not have fighter planes. Army is without ammunition today”
Industrialist Kiran Mazumdar Shaw tweeted, “Tokenism and motherhood rhetoric on manufacturing n fiscal containment was main feature. How will FD reduce from 4.6 to 4.1?”.
However, Industrialist Adi Godrej has welcomed the budget calling it a welcome budget. “It is a very welcoming budget. Automobile sector has been suffering badly, so it is good for them. I have just heard the budget, haven’t discussed it yet. The new budget should try to promote growth. To control fiscal deficit you have to cut expenditure,” Godrej said.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh complimented Chidambaram for the budget. A PMO India tweet said, “I congratulate the FM for presenting a well balanced vote on account portraying a realistic picture of the economic situation in the country. The issue of ‘One Rank One Pension’ has been addressed comprehensively and I’m confident that our Forces,Officers & Jawans will welcome this”.
Chidambaram’s cabinet colleagues Kapil Sibal, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Jitender Singh, Salman Khurshid and others have praised him for presenting a growth oriented interim budget. Interestingly, many political parties and experts showed no interest in commenting on the interim budget.
Courtesy:IBNLive.com
