Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi criticized Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2024 on Tuesday amid the declaration of the most-awaited budget after the Lok Sabha elections, as the NDA alliance won the elections for the for the third time in a row and formed the government.
Rahul Gandhi attacked the government and said that the financial budget was all about pleasing the BJP’s companions and friends. He also said that the document, known as the “Kursi Bachao” Budget, is a copied version of the Lok Sabha manifesto of the Congress party. “Kursi Bachao Budget. Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. Copy and paste the Congress manifesto and previous budgets," Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post on X.
Other Congress leaders also claimed the budget was copied: "I am glad to know that the Hon'ble FM has read the Congress Manifesto LS 2024 after the election results. I am happy she has virtually adopted the employment-linked incentive (ELI) outlined on page 30 of the Congress Manifesto. I am also happy that she has introduced the apprenticeship scheme, along with an allowance for every apprentice, as spelled out on page 11 of the Congress Manifesto. I wish the FM had copied some other ideas in the Congress Manifesto. I shall shortly list the missed opportunities," Congress leader P Chidambaram wrote on X.
Jairam Ramesh, the leader of the Congress party, said that the employment scheme is “designed to grab headlines rather than a programmatic guarantee.”
“The Finance Minister has taken a leaf out of the INC's Nyay Patra 2024, with its internship program modeled on the INC's proposed Apprenticeship Program that was called Pehli Naukri Pakki," Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X."
“However, in their trademark style, the scheme has been designed to grab headlines, with arbitrary targets (1 crore internships) rather than a programmatic guarantee for all diploma holders and graduates, like the Indian National Congress had envisioned," he added.
The Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, also wrote that the Union Budget of this year is for people and their development. "The Budget 2024–25 not only exemplifies Bharat's newfound sense of purpose, hope, and optimism under the PM Modi Ji-led NDA government but also fortifies them. Harnessing the power of Bharat's youth, Nari Shakti, and farmers, the budget fuels the nation's pace on the path of emerging as a developed nation by ushering in a new era of employment and opportunities," he wrote on X.
