BJP slams Dikshit for 'lacklustre' budget

BJP today criticised Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for presenting a "lacklustre" budget which did not have "anything" for the common man and said a number of projects she mentioned were announced in previous budgets.
"The Chief Minister in her budget speech mentioned that seven new hospitals will be set up during 2013-14. The same announcement was made in budget for 2010-11 and 2011-12. This is totally unacceptable," BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi said initiating discussion on the budget.
Criticising Dikshit for not announcing any relief to address hardships of people due to high water and power bills, Mukhi said the government showed "total insensitivity" towards the problems of the common man.

Mentioning about the law and order situation, he linked rising cases of rape to government's liberal excise policy, saying number of crimes against women are surging due to significant increase in number of wine shops in the city.
"There is a link between alcoholism and crime. If you analyse rape cases, then you will find in 90 per cent cases that the crime was committed after consumption of alcohol.
"I think Delhi government is more responsible then police for increasing cases of rape in the city. Because of liberal excise policy of the government, wine shops have come up in every nook and corner of the city," he said.

Mukhi said Dikshit repeated in the budget all the schemes announced by her in last 15 years.

Rebutting Mukhi's charges, Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma said BJP was "nervous" because of the wonderful budget presented by the Chief Minister.
"Delhi is the only state in the country to allocate 65 per cent of its plan outlay for social sector schemes for consecutively two years. BJP-ruled Gujarat's allocation for social sector is 14.5 per cent while Madhya Pradesh allocated only 11.50 per cent while BJP-supported government in Bihar set aside only 9.5 per cent for social sector schemes," he said.
Sharma said that BJP has not dared to oppose high taxes budget in Punjab where it is part of the government.

He expressed his gratitude to Dikshit for presenting a "development-oriented pro-poor budget" while adding that the government was committed to overall development of all sections of the society.