Mamata Banerjee calls budget 'baseless' and 'misleading'

It was the first time in the history of independent India that a combined budget (Railways and general) was presented simultaneously.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday described the Union Budget for 2017-18 as "baseless" and "actionless". Banerjee, whose party Trinamool Congress has boycotted the first two days of the Budget Session as a mark of protest against the Centre's demonetisation drive, added the government did not disclose any figures regarding the note ban.

"A controversial #Budget2017 which is clueless, useless, baseless, missionless and actionless. Heartless," Banerjee said on Twitter soon after Arun Jaitley concluded his Budget speech. "No roadmap for the country or the future from a government that has lost all its credibility."

"Tax payers still have restrictions on withdrawals. Remove all restrictions immediately. And where are the figures for Demonetisation?," the West Bengal CM said, adding that the speech was full of "jugglery of numbers" and "hollow words".

It is the first time in the history of independent India that a combined budget (Railways and General) was presented simultaneously. Unveiling the Union Budget, Jaitley claimed that double digit inflation has been controlled and sluggish growth replaced by high growth.