Mukherjee outscores Chidambaram as FM: Snap poll

A majority of the middle class individuals surveyed by a private TV channel have cheered the Budget 2009-10 and have said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee performed better than his predecessor P Chidambaram.

According to the snap poll by UTVi Business Channel, about 44 per cent of the respondents voted in favour of Mukherjee while 32 per cent favoured Chidambaram as Finance Minister.

"Probably the issues of inflation and price rise have been attributed to Chidambaram's tenure by the Middle class Indians," the snap poll said.

The Middle Class has spoken positively about the overall growth plan of India, but the tax rates did not match the expectations of 'Aam Aadmi', or common man, it said.

Of the 2,276 urban middle class Indians interviewed across 25 major cities, around 80 per cent felt that the tax exemptions announced today were not good enough.

Around 60 per cent of the respondents said the Budget has not done enough to bring food prices down.

Majority of respondents said that they do not expect their quality of life to improve drastically by this Budget. Almost 70 per cent of them were not sure if they would be able to buy a home post-Budget 2009.

However, 46 per cent feel that post-Budget they probably will be able to afford better schooling for their kids.