Samajwadi Party completely against Chidambaram's interim budget: Naresh Agarwal

Reacting to the interim budget presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal on Monday said that his party was completely against the budget.

"The Congress has tried to get the attention of voters as elections are round the corner by proposing this budget but I think this budget is not in favour of the people," said Agarwal.

"Over 70percent of the people which comprises of the rural population will not benefit from it at all, as neither has Chidambaram talked about the progress of the farmers or villages nor about education, and health in villages," he said.

"He also did not talk about the ways through which we can curb inflation and price rise. Also, while talking about providing employment, he did not mention if he would turn them into laborers or give them government jobs. This budget would only benefit the urban population," he added.

Chidambaram presented the interim budget for the fiscal year 2014-15 on Monday in Lok Sabha.

While presenting the budget Chidambaram said that the fiscal deficit for the current financial year would be contained at 4.6% of GDP well below the red line of 4.8 %. The fiscal deficit, which is the gap between expenditure and revenue, was 4.9% of GDP in the previous financial year.

He said that the government's objectives included fiscal consolidation, reviving the growth cycle and enhancing manufacturing.