SP joins oppn in criticising Budget

Samajwadi Party, which is extending support to the government, today joined the opposition in ridiculing the General Budget, terming it as "sour", "trepid" and "unimpressive".     

RJD Chief Lalu Prasad, who had criticised the Rail Budget two days back despite his association with the ruling UPA, however, struck a conciliatory tone and described the Union budget as a "balanced" one.     

SP, BJP, Left parties, JD(S) and BJD were critical of the Budget even as the Congress hailed it.     

"While the Rail Budget was sweet and sour, this Budget is only sour," SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said while reacting to the Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.     

He particularly said farmers and rural areas have been neglected in the Budget.     

CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat described the Budget as "very disappointing" and said the allocations made for social sector did not reflect the UPA's claim of working towards inclusive growth.     

"They have been very generous to 'khas admi' (privileged people) and not 'aam admi' (common people)," she said.     

CPI National Secretary D Raja termed the Budget as "neo-liberal economic agenda with few populist measures".     

Underlining that "there is nothing spectacular to celebrate," he said the "government believes in disinvestment of PSUs for revenue mobilisation."     

He said the government was keen to extend benefits to the corporates because of which it has made no increase in the Corporate Tax.     

Raja said while allocation for minorities was welcome, the government's attitude towards SC/STs in the budget was "disappointing" as the Special Component Plan for SC has decreased by 18 per cent.     

BJD MP Tathagat Sathpathy said the Budget was "insipid".     

He said though the government has increased allocation for NREGA, Indira Awas and other such social sector projects, it would not reflect on the ground because of the high costs.