Oppn slams Budget, says it presents ‘half-baked truth’

The Opposition on Monday slammed the General Budget in the Lok Sabha, saying that it presents a “rosy picture” and “half-baked truth”, and mocked at the ‘achhe din’ slogan of the government, quipping that “good days” had come only for the RSS, which has “graduated from shorts to full pants”.

Participating in a debate on the Budget 2016-17, Tariq Anwar (NCP) targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving full marks to it, saying he was acting as an examinee as well as examiner himself.

The Budget has presented a “rosy picture”, but this is “half-baked truth” when it comes to allocation of money to farmers and agricultural sector, he said.

“Prior to the Budget, the Prime Minister said it is his test. After the Budget he gave himself full marks. This was the only Budget where the examinee and the examiner were same,” Anwar said.

With regard to the ‘acche din’ slogan of the government, he said: “It is only the RSS that is seeing ‘acche din’. They have graduated from shorts to full pants during the tenure of this government,” he said.

Santok Singh Chaudhary (Congress) said the Budget was “anti-middle” class.

Jai Prakash Narain Yadav (RJD) described the Budget as “directionless” and hollow. Mocking the government’s ‘acche din’ slogan, he said good days had come only for the BJP and the ruling party will see “bad days” after 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Yadav said the PM, on assumption of power, had promised to bring down inflation but the situation today is that prices of essential commodities are “sky-rocketing”.

Oppn favours extending first half of session

The Opposition on Monday said it was ready for extending the Rajya Sabha sitting by a day or two to help pass key legislations, but the government said it was in discussion with several parties and some were against extending the first half of the session. A united opposition also stalled the government’s move to take up a key legislation – Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, through supplementary agenda, saying that bringing Bills like this was not proper and there will be no compromise on the debates on the Railway and General Budgets.