The Maha Vikas Aghadi partners Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress have slammed the Centre on budget proposals saying that Maharashtra was missing in it. NCP said the budget was disappointing and a clear move towards privatization while referring to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s proposal for privatization of two PSU banks and one insurance company.
In a dig at the Centre, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said a Union Budget is meant for the entire country and "not for polls".
"I won't comment on the Budget in a hurry. I will speak later. But from what I have heard (about Budgetary provisions) so far, the Budget should be for the country and not for elections. This is the budget of the country and not of polls," said Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claimed that the budget was partisan in nature. ‘’MPs from Maharashtra should meet the finance minister and urge her to do away with the injustice to Maharashtra. There is nothing in the budget for Maharashtra and provisions for metro railway in Nagpur and Nashik have been made as there are polls in these two cities,’’ he noted.
Another NCP leader and state Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad tweeted: "The new budget in simple words..#India_For_Sale". He took strong objection against LIC’s IPO saying that hard earned money of the working class will be at stake in case of some problem.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said, "Maharashtra is not seen in this Budget. The state has been ignored". He claimed that it was not a budget but a financial plan of a political party that is distributing money as one does before elections. "For the past several years, people like us have been trying to find Maharashtra in the Union budget. But Maharashtra is not seen in it," he said. "Maharashtra feeds the stomach of the country. But nobody is paying attention towards the stomach of Maharashtra," he added.
State Congress chief and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat said whether it was the annual budget or a poll manifesto. ‘’Is this a vision document on sale of national assets,’’ he asked.
Home Minister Anil Deshmukh observed that the budget failed to meet the expectations of the people amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Skill Development minister Nawab Malik said the budget was disappointing for workers, farmers, and the salaried class.
NCP's Maharashtra chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said FM used flowery words in her Budget speech to hide the "real intention of privatisation". He added the Budget didn't provide any specific roadmap to tackle unemployment.
Public Work Minister Ashok Chavan tweeted a video of a child reciting his tables wrong but loudly saying that the child and the FM both did not do their homework but were big on bluster.
Meanwhile, the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis said it was a bold budget. ‘’ The Centre has not cut its expenditure but has increased it. The budget has given a new fillip to the aspirations of the public after the coronavirus crisis,’’ he noted.
