Opposition leaders on Wednesday rejected Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's “middle-class bonanza budget” claim with former finance minister and Congress MP saying that not all benefits as only two of the five new income-tax slabs will benefit them.
Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee denounced the budget as “anti-people” and “completely opportunistic”, alleging that it was created with the 2024 Lok Sabha election in mind.
AAP
Echoing the same opinion, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the budget. He said, “Education Budget reduced from 2.64% to 2.5% is unfortunate whereas health budget reduced from 2.2% to 1.98% is harmful.”
Congress
“The budget was presented by Modi government keeping in view the upcoming assembly polls in 3-4 states. There is nothing in the budget for the poor and to control inflation. No steps for jobs, to fill government vacancies and MNREGA,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said.
While recognising that the Union Budget 2023-24 contained “some good things”, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor pointed out that there was no mention of the rural poor, employment, or inflation. Some “basic questions remained unanswered,” he said.
Samajwadi Party
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed, “The Union Budget for 2023-24 provided people with nirasha (despair) rather than asha (hope).”
