Budget under fire from FM's friends

RJD, Left support BJP's line of attack, say Budget has nothing for the poor.

On day one of the discussion on Budget 2007-08, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had to face the ire of not just the Opposition, but also from the Congress allies, the Left and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

While the Opposition BJP criticised the Budget as being kinder to domestic pets than the poor "" party spokesperson VK Malhotra compared the hapless finance minister to Marie Antoinette ("Let them eat pet food") "" Devendra Prasad Yadav of the RJD was the unkindest of all.

Yadav accused the finance minister of not thinking about the poorest of the poor. "While the finance minister has made provisions to grant Rs 30 crore for institutes which work on Gandhian studies, he has forgotten Gandhi's talisman: 'Before every action, think of the effect it will have on the poorest man you met,'" he said.

He mocked the finance minister's contention that inflation was the logical result of high growth. "A country's wealth is not calculated on the basis of how many millionaires it has. The real test is whether the poorest go to bed on a full stomach. The poor, due to the crippling inflation, are hungry, and farmers are committing suicide," he said.

He said the much-touted plan to provide social security to the workers of the unorganised sector was an eyewash. "I was very excited when the finance minister unveiled the scheme till he came to the part when he said that the state would be asked to contribute 50 per cent of the Rs 200 contribution to the fund. The finance minister is a learned man. Even he knows that in such a scenario, the scheme would amount to nothing," he said.

CPI(M)'s P Karunakaran urged the government to act seriously to curb inflation. "The Congress should be mindful of its mandate, we are supporting the government not just to help secular forces but to keep anti-poor forces also out," he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP today sought to puncture the claim of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad that he had led the turnaround in the railways.

Initiating a discussion on the railway budget for 2007-08, BJP's Venkaiah Naidu said it was a populist budget. He said the minister had ignored vital matters like safety and security of passengers.

Naidu said the turnaround, as tom-tommed by Prasad, was because of the initiatives taken by his predecessor Nitish Kumar in the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"The foundation was laid during the NDA regime," he said.

As RJD members tried to shout Naidu down, Prasad got up and stated that he would present all facts and figures in his reply.

Naidu cited cited Mumbai and Samjhauta train blasts and said the railways had not enhanced safety and security measures. "This government is following the policy of condolences for the dead and compensation for the survivors," he said.