India's Union Budget
Opposition unimpressed by government's plans
Opposition parties slammed the 2016 Budget for being “routine”, “hollow”, “regressive” and “directionless”, while one former chief minister of Bihar accused the prime minister of being a “dull student”.
Narendra Modi, according to Lalu Prasad (pictured), was like a pupil who had been rusticated for “lying and cheating in the examination for lying to, and cheating the people by offering nothing for any section of society in the Budget, which he had promised before the parliamentary polls in 2014”.
In West Bengall, the Trinamool Congress party said the Budget was comprised of “big words” and lacking in solutions.
Accusing the finance minister of being vague on FDI, a Trinamool spokesman said: “This Budget is not constructive, nor is it creative. It is stereotype and routine. We are left with no option but to call it a hopeless budget: no hope for industry, no hope for the farmers, no hope for the poor, no hope for the middle class, no hope even for the Sensex.
“The effective 2016 Budget outlay is actually lower for [rural incentive] NREGA than during 2009-10. Why has the finance minister not mentioned the details of the changes in the FDI policy in his Budget speech?”
