Budget anti-people, anti-poor: Mamata

Kolkata: Slamming the union budget as “anti-people” and “anti-poor”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the document was prepared with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The budget is against the poor people. It’s anti-people. That’s why I condemn this budget. I have the experience of working in various ministries. Give me half an hour and I will show you how to prepare a budget for the poor,” said Banerjee, also the supremo of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress.
She alleged that the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the day contains “lies, bluffs”.“There is no light in this budget, it’s only darkness. It contains lies, bluff. It’s to show people something (that’s not the true picture), its full of misinformation because of the upcoming elections,” the chief minister said. She said the changes in the income tax slabs will not help anyone and the budget does not address India’s unemployment issue. Sitharaman on Wednesday presented her fifth budget, the last full budget of the BJP Government before the 2024 general elections.
The Finance Minister announced an increase in the income tax rebate limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh under the new tax regime.She said this year, encouraging innovation in agriculture, technology and tourism has taken centre stage. The Finance Minister announced the capital investment outlay has also been increased by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which will account for 3.3 per cent of the GDP.