Opposition parties on Saturday described the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as politically driven and claimed that it catered only to the needs of Bihar in view of the Assembly elections in the state.

The polls in Bihar are expected to take place in October or November. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is part of the coalition government in the state along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United).

In her Budget, Sitharaman proposed constructing new airports in Bihar and expanding the capacity of the one in Patna. She also said that the Centre will provide financial support for the Western Kosi Canal, an irrigation project in the Kosi river basin, among several other proposals.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the Budget a “band-aid for bullet wounds”.

Solving the economic crisis in the country amid global uncertainty demanded a paradigm shift, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said on social media. “But this government is bankrupt of ideas,” Gandhi added.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Bihar appeared to have been given a “bonanza of announcements” in the Budget.

“It is natural since elections are due there later in the year,” the Rajya Sabha MP said. “But why is the other pillar of the NDA [National Democratic Alliance], namely Andhra Pradesh, been so cruelly ignored?”

Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Telugu Desam Party is also a BJP ally.

Having fallen short of the majority mark in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP formed the government at the Centre with the help of the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party, among other NDA members.

Ramesh added that the actual impact of the Budget on the economy remained to be seen.

The economy was facing four related crises of stagnant real wages, lack of buoyancy in mass consumption, sluggish rates of private investment and a complex and complicated Goods and Services Tax system, Ramesh said. “The Budget does nothing to address these illnesses,” he added.

He noted that the only relief given was to income tax payers.

Ramesh was referring to the Sitharaman’s proposal that there would be no income tax payable for income up to Rs 12 lakh per annum under the new regime. The limit would be Rs 12.75 lakh for salaried taxpayers considering the standard deduction of Rs 75,000.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that the promises made by the NDA government earlier need to be looked at, India Today reported.

“Have they been fulfilled?” he asked. “One needs to read the Budget to get a clear picture.”

Chidambaram also said that the focus of the Budget on Bihar was obvious. “This is politics,” he added.

His party colleague Manish Tewari also asked whether the Budget had been made for the Bihar government. “Did you hear the name of any other state in the finance minister’s speech?” he asked on social media.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi said that this was the first time she had “the opportunity to listen to Bihar State Budget” in Parliament.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said that the Budget did not talk about giving Bihar the special financial package, ANI reported. “I am not sure if they will even give Bihar the status of a special state,” he added.

The special status category is given to states that face disadvantages, including hilly and difficult terrain, economic and infrastructural backwardness, strategic location along international borders and low population density.

Bihar has been demanding special status ever since mineral-rich Jharkhand was carved out of the state in 2000.

“Today’s Budget was unfair to Bihar,” Tejashwi Yadav said. “Whatever was given in the last Budget has just been repeated this time... Train fares are getting expensive. No relief has been given in that.”

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee said that there was nothing for the common man in the Budget, ANI reported.

“As you know that there are elections in Bihar this year,” he said. “So keeping that in mind, the Budget has been presented for Bihar…When the Budget was presented in July 2024, everything was done for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.”

Banerjee alleged that West Bengal had received nothing from the Budget in the past 10 years. “Nor was there anything today,” he added. “This is unfortunate.”

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati claimed that the Budget was politically driven.

“India, with a population of nearly 140 crore, suffers from inflation, poverty, and unemployment,” she said on social media. “The Budget, like previous ones under BJP and Congress, seems more politically driven than focused on public welfare. The dream of a ‘developed India’ must include the interests of all communities.”

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal claimed that a significant part of the country’s treasury was being used to waive the loans of a few billionaires. “I had demanded that it be announced in the Budget that from now on, the loans of any billionaire will not be waived off,” he said on social media.

Home loans and vehicle loans of the middle class should be waived from the money saved from it, the former Delhi chief minister said, adding that income tax and the Goods and Services Tax rates must also be halved. “I am sad this was not done,” he added.

While Sitharaman was presenting the Budget on Saturday, several Opposition MPs, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, walked out of the Lok Sabha after their demand to discuss the stampede in Maha Kumbh was not accepted by Speaker Om Birla, ANI reported.

At least 30 persons were killed and 60 injured after a stampede broke out at the site of Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj in the early hours on January 29.

“For us, the data of people who died in the stampede in Maha Kumbh is more important than the budget data,” Yadav said outside Parliament. “The government is not able to tell how many people died, went missing or got injured. The death toll that has been given by the government is false.”

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