BJP wooing tax paying middle class, Bihar voters: P Chidambaram

New Delhi (thestates.news)| Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday slammed the Union Budget saying “BJP is wooing the tax paying middle class, Bihar electorate” and “just soothing words for the rest of India”.

Addressing a press conference here, Chidambaram along with party leader Gaurav Gogoi said, “The government cannot hide its failures of last year. In the last year’s budget, the BJP government could not spend the budget allocated for education, health, social welfare, agriculture, urban development and rural development”.

In the health sector, he said, “The Modi government spent Rs 1,255 crores less than the set budget, the same was the case with education”.

He accused the BJP government of doing injustice to SC, ST, OBC and minority, saying that the budget allocated to them was was not spent. Last year’s budget of Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Abyudaya Yojana (PM-AJAY) was approximately Rs 2,140 crore but only Rs 800 crore was spent.

Last year’s budget for the Prime Minister’s scholarship programme for young achievers from OBC, EBC and denotified tribes was around Rs 1836 crore but only Rs 1381 crore could be spent.
The same was the case will all their other schemes, which is the biggest failure of the government. An attempt was made to hide their failures in today’s budget.

The former Finance Miniser alleged that India’s economy is gradually weakening and said that the government’s Chief Economic Adviser himself has admitted this in the economic survey.
The Senior Congress leader claimed that the “Chief Economic Advisor has admitted that the Modi government has become an obstacle to economic progress today. The government should not come in the way of economic development. Only then will the people and industry of India will move forward”.

The Rajya Sabha MP said, “Last year, the revised estimate of Railways was about Rs 2,12,000 crore. This year’s budget estimate is Rs 2,13,552 crore. That means the budget of an important department like the Railways has increased by only Rs 766 crore, which is very less as per inflation”. He alleged that the priority of the government is neither employment nor inflation. (UNI)