NEW DELHI: AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, in his speech a day after Budget 2024 at Parliament, raised a poignant question on income tax, remarking, โWe pay taxes like England to get services like Somalia.โ
Illustrating his point, he stated, โIf one earns โน10, they must pay โน7-8 to the government as tax. However, Governments that levy such taxes on common people, what do they give in return to common people?โ
The debate between the government and the opposition resumed on Thursday in both houses of Parliament over the Union Budget. Criticizing the NDA government for disproportionately allocating โน47,400 crore to Bihar and โน15,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh, both BJP allies, Chadha remarked, โAlmost everyone is disappointed with this budget except two persons, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naiduโฆ All economic indicators show stagnant incomes amidst rising prices. The budget has paralyzed national investorsโฆ The provisions penalizing citizens must be revoked.โ
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On day four of the ongoing Parliament Monsoon session, proceedings commenced following a tense standoff in both Houses as Opposition MPs protested what they termed a discriminatory Budget favouring only Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, BJPโs allies.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rebutted these claims, calling them attempts to mislead citizens, while prominent Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge protested alongside Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav outside Parliament.
Furthermore, a 12-member delegation of farmer union leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal from the non-political Samyukt Kisan Morcha, met with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi during the session.
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Akhilesh Yadav, the president of the Samajwadi Party, criticized the Budget for neglecting the interests of youth and farmers. He suggested that the developmental initiatives for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were linked to BJPโs political agenda and questioned the benefits for Uttar Pradesh.
AAP characterized the Budget as a โtoy,โ alleging it provided no support for farmers, youth, women, and workers. AAP MP Sanjay Singh remarked, โThis Budget aims to save the government while worsening inflation.โ
In addition, NCP (SP) commented that the Budget seemed tailored not for India but specifically for NDAโs coalition partners.
