‘Blunder of the century’: Opposition slams BJP government for Union Budget 2021

Strongly criticising the Union Budget 2021 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Congress said that this year’s budget was a case of ‘wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription’ by the BJP government.

“Forget putting cash in the hands of people, Modi Govt plans to handover India’s assets to his crony capitalist friends,” former Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

“Budget 2021 is disappointing as it is without a roadmap for accelerating growth & revival of consumer demand. The FM could have been brave but chose to be timid. The nation needed a bold budget & more direct transfers to the weaker sections to revive demand, restart job creation,” Congress leader and Deputy leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma wrote on Twitter.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also mocked the Centre over the budget, saying “this BJP government reminds me of the garage mechanic who told his client, ‘I couldn’t fix your brakes, so I made your horn louder’.”

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“After promising a century, FM is out hit wicket at Zero !! Instead of calling it as ‘budget of the century’ it will be remembered as ‘blunder of the century’ by BJP Govt #Budget2021,” Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill tweeted.

“Budget case of ‘Wrong diagnosis & Wrong Prescription’ by BJP Govt which instead of healing, reforming & rejuvenating has chosen to adopt damaging, disappointing & destroying approach to push the economy further into vortex of recession,” he added.

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Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury also slammed the government for the budget, saying “This budget(2021-22) is neither for the people nor for much publicised V shaped revival of the economy, but for a K shaped- rich becoming richer, poor poorer.”

Criticising the budget, BSP president Mayawati said that crores of poor people, farmers and working-class are tired of attractive promises, hollow claims, reported PTI.

“This budget is not for the development of the country but for its sale. Earlier, they sold Railways, Air India, Bharat Petroleum, & others. This budget is about more such entities that will be sold including gas pipeline, stadium, roadways and warehouses,” RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told ANI.

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Taking a dig at Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech about the six pillars of this year’s budget, Congress’ Ashok Chavan mentioned the six pillars as “Wealth and Well Being of Selected Capitalists, Physical and Financial Harassment of Farmers and Traders, Selective Development eyeing certain Assembly Elections, Depressing Human Capital, Revision of R&D implies Ruining and Destroying the Economy, and Maximum Promises Minimum Performance.”

“They are selling everything from PSUs to Insurance. This is a budget to deceive the masses,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien too opposed the budget on Twitter. “More cess. Another loot on federalism.
States robbed of revenue,” he tweeted. 

Notably, as the finance minister was presenting the Union Budget, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Bhagwant Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party and Hanuman Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party expressed their protest inside the Parliament House on the three new farm laws by holding placards demanding that the Centre take back the ‘black’ laws.