Mumbai: CM Fadnavis welcomed the “pro-poor, pro-farmer and pro-common man” interim Union Budget 2019-20, which the Opposition denounced as a mere “gimmick” ahead of the Lok Sabha election. The Congress dubbed the budget as the BJP’s “jumlebaz (filled with gimmicks) manifesto” for the polls, while the NCP termed it as a “lollipop”.
Attacking the government for not announcing farm loan waiver, the opposition parties alleged that since it had not offered anything to the people in its previous budgets, it has now made populist announcements to assuage prevailing dissent among the public.
“A Pro-worker, pro-poor, pro-farmer, pro-villager & truly pro-common man budget ! Thank you Hon PM @narendramodi ji & Union Minister @PiyushGoyal ji for series of historic decisions in your continuous efforts for a better living to last person of the society! #BudgetForNewIndia,” Fadnavis tweeted. The leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil claimed the announcements the government had made in its previous five budgets were yet to become a reality.