As BJP hails Budget, MVA says it has nothing for the middle class

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the Union Budget does not meet the expectations of the common people and does not show any direction to fulfill the promises made in the past and present.

“Rising unemployment, inflation and declining incomes have caused great uneasiness in the minds of the common man. The Covid-19 pandemic has created major challenges to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. In this context, some concrete answers were expected from the Union Budget, but the unrest in the minds of the people does not seem to have reached the Centre. The Budget does not meet the expectations of the common people,” said Thackeray.

The NCP, too, criticised the Budget, terming it as a manifesto of a political party. “The common man’s hopes are dashed. All that the finance minister did in her Budget speech was jugglery of numbers. A lot of announcements were made but nothing concrete has been given. It comes across more as an election manifesto of a political party than the Budget of a country,” Water Resources Minister and senior NCP leader Jayant Patil said.

Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said, “It seems the Union government has decided to continue its tradition of neglecting Maharashtra in its budgetary provisions like the previous ones. Maharashtra contributed Rs 48,000 crore to the Union government’s total Goods and Services Tax collection of Rs 2.20 lakh crore (so far) in the current fiscal (2021-22). However, Maharashtra has received only Rs 5,000 crore in return.”

“Injustice to Maharashtra has continued this year also. No matter how much one would search (in the Budget), you will not find anything that benefits Maharashtra,” he added.

Congress legislative party leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the Budget was nothing but jugglery of numbers. “This government has been showing great dreams to the people and in reality, they get nothing. They have been selling government companies and increasing taxes on fuel. The country and its poor went through tough times due to Covid-19 pandemic and we expected that the kin of the deceased should have got at least Rs 2 lakh as compensation,” he added.

MVA leaders also claimed that the Budget made no allocation for Mumbai, the business and financial hub of the country. “The government could have brought a scheme for the dilapidated buildings and could have provided some support for the scheme but it hasn’t. Mumbai, which contributes a large share of taxes, continues to be ignored,” Industries Minister Subhash Desai said.

Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, said the Budget is a huge leap forward towards making India self reliant. “The Centre has taken a revolutionary step in the cooperative sector. It has slashed the tax from 18.5 per cent to 15 per cent, reduced the surcharge from 12 per cent to seven per cent,” Fadnavis said. “The decision will boost the cooperative sector.”