The SP and the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP Monday flayed the interim budget presented by union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in parliament. However, the Congress defended the budget proposals.
State Prisons Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesman Rajendra Chowdhary, in a statement, said the budget was anti-people with no hope for the poor and the middle class in the country.
A government mired in corruption and having failed to curb price rise and inflation has patted itself, giving only some "lollipops" for the forthcoming Lok Sabha (LS) polls, Chowdhary added.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance-II of sustained anti-farmer policies, the minister said that with a budget deficit of $4,500 crore, the Congress-led government at the centre was leaving a "major headache" for the next government.
"By slashing prices of small cars, bikes, local mobile sets, fridge, television, the finance minister has tried to hoodwink the common man of this country but the people will see through the farce," the senior SP leader said.
The state Bharatiya Janata Party unit also attacked the budget proposals, saying there was nothing new in them. State spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told IANS it is worrying that the UPA government was leaving behind an economy in shambles and it would be an uphill task for the next incumbent at the centre to bring the Indian economy back on the tracks.
However, the state unit of the Congress lauded Chidambaram for being considerate towards the common man and the middle class. "Despite constraints, the finance minister has done a lot for the poor, middle class, the minorities besides the north-eastern and hill states," senior leader Satyadev Tripathi said.
