Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy asked if the budget presented on Friday was prepared by the finance department or at the RSS headquarters.
Kumaraswamy termed the newly announced 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi' as Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's "cotton candy" to the distress hit farming community.
He said the "election budget" lacked clarity and need not be taken seriously as the new government that will come in after the election may present a fresh budget.
"If this budget is implemented, if at all they (BJP) come back to power again and form the government, under this scheme 59 lakh farmers of our state will get Rs 3,578 crore in one year," Kumaraswamy told reporters here.
"Our government in the state is waiving Rs 48,000 crore farm loan, it will cover 44 lakh farmer families," he added.
Kumaraswamy recalled how Modi had earlier described the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government's farm loan waiver scheme as a lollipop for the farmers of Karnataka.
"They are planning to now give 59 lakh farmers Rs 3,578 crore, what should we call it... You can call it Bombay mithai or cotton candy. This is Narendra Modi's programme," he said.
Hitting out at the state government's farm loan waiver scheme, Modi had said "lollipops" were handed out to the farmers and claimed that only 800 farmers had benefited from the scheme.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi announced in the interim budget Friday, Rs 6,000 will be transferred to bank accounts of farmers holding up to 2 hectares of land in three equal instalments.
"The budget was prepared by finance department officials or at RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) or BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) headquarters, I don't know," Kumaraswamy said.
He said the full tax rebate for income up to Rs 5 lakh was expected as it was a long standing demand after the BJP came to power and they had announced it ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
He claimed that the government had failed in meeting the expectations of the farmers.
Terming it an "election budget, the chief minister said, "We need not take it seriously, thinking that it will bring about a drastic change."
In a series of tweets, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah termed the budget as "anti-farmer and anti-youth."
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