Congress’s Shashi Tharoor today criticised the Union budget today, saying it failed to address the current “high debt, low employment, high food inflation” and accused the government of presenting dubious figures to back their claims on poverty.
In an interview to NDTV, Mr Tharoor said over the last decade, people have had “no real growth in their income” and that “income levels have shrunk over 50 per cent since 2015”.
“The people are suffering,” he added.
Mr Tharoor had earlier slammed the budget as being high on rhetoric and low on substance. Asked about that, he justified it, saying the budget has completely overlooked the massive problems facing the country, including, unemployment, “which is at a 45-year high” and a percentage of prevalence — 44 per cent — “which is probably a world record”.
Mr Tharoor’s face off was with the BJP’s Jay Panda, who said Mr Tharoor will have a “difficult job to rain on a parade which is not celebrated by just Indians but all the world”.
“The Indian economy is growing for several years. The average incomes have increased by 50 per cent,” he said.
“Rural consumption puts a lie to the Opposition’s claims.. 10 million people have become lakhpatis due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi… 500 million youth have become upskilled,” he added.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the interim budget in parliament today, said PM Modi’s government is working to make India a ‘Viksit (Developed) Bharat’ by 2047, and that this development would be “all round, all inclusive, and all pervasive”.
