Lucknow, Feb 5 (PTI) The opposition parties slammed the budget presented by the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying it had nothing for “90 per cent” of the population.
BSP chief Mayawati said the budget “seems to be more” for the BJP’s “electoral interest” and “less for the broader public interest and welfare”, and RLD spokesperson Ankur Saxena called it “anti-people”.
The BJP, however, drew support from its alliance partner — Apna Dal (Sonelal).
The Samajwadi Party chief questioned if there was anything in the Uttar Pradesh Budget for “90 per cent” of the population, the people he referred to as the PDA – an acronym for the backward, Dalits and minorities.
He said it did not matter if the budget was of “Rs 7 lakh crore or Rs 8 lakh crore”.
“The question remains what is there in it for 90 per cent of the people, meaning the PDA,” Yadav said in a post on ‘X’, reacting to the Rs 7.36 lakh crore Budget presented in the state assembly on Monday.
PDA is a term coined by Yadav to refer to the “Picchde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak”.
Yadav said, “Actually, the BJP’s policy is anti-common people, it keeps 90 per cent of the budget for 10 per cent of the rich people and only a nominal 10 per cent of the budget for the 90 per cent of the needy people.” The Samajwadi Party chief said the BJP government “should not get entangled in figures”.
“It should tell the simple fact that how much relief will this budget provide from inflation? How many youths will get employment? How much will actually be spent on measures to reduce crime and corruption? And what are the provisions to promote business and shopkeeping which are facing the brunt of recession and GST,” he added.
Escalating his attack on the ruling BJP, Yadav asked,” Whether theft of the farmer’s bags will stop or not? Whether the right price for crops and farmers’ income will be doubled or not? Will the labourers get the right price for his hard work or not?” “Whether CCTVs will be installed at various places to control criminals to give freedom to women to go out of the house without fear? Will employees get their old pension or not? How much allocation has been made for good medicines and education? What is the nominal provision for the scheme of providing water to homes and running toilets smoothly?” the SP chief asked.
“How much provision has been made in Gorakhpur for providing free training in boating and swimming to the people of Gorakhpur in the rainy season? How much budget is there for new power plants? Leave aside new roads, just tell me whether there is any provision in the budget for filling potholes on roads or not?” he queried.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief on her part said, “Various announcements, promises and claims of the government have their (own) place, but it is also necessary to evaluate whether all the previous promises of the government related to development have been fulfilled.” “It is necessary to properly comply with all the claims and promises that the UP government makes in the budget regarding the welfare of the entire society, development, and law and order, only then the immense poverty, unemployment and backwardness etc of the people of the state will be eliminated which will then have a direct impact on development of the country and the progress of its people,” she added.
Echoing similar sentiments, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) spokesperson Ankur Saxena said the budget seems to be against the ‘sankalpnaa’ (concept) of ‘Ram Rajya’.
UP Congress Manish Hindvi said “this budget encourages tokenism and is misleading the youths”.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Shekhar Dixit also lashed out at the state government over the budget for 2024-25.
“I feel that the state government has made very less budgetary allocation for education in the rural areas. This shows their non-seriousness nature,” he said.
Backing the BJP, Apna Dal (Sonelal) spokesperson Rajesh Srivastava said the budget is “welfare oriented” and will take the state forward in “achieving the US dollar 1 trillion economy”. PTI NAV ABN AS AS
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