NEW DELHI: Former Union finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said that the Union Budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman was aimed at wooing the middle class and the voters of Bihar which will be going into polls later this year.
In a press conference, Chidambaram asserted that the government has no new ideas and Sitharaman is walking on the “worn-out path” and is not willing to break free as its governments had done in 1991 and 2004.
“There is nothing to cheer about the fact that the government has improved the fiscal deficit from the budget estimate of 4.9 per cent to the revised estimate of 4.8 per cent. It was achieved at a huge cost to the economy,” Chidambaram said.
“Those who did not believe us when we said that the economy is slowing down will, I hope, believe us now. Those who did not believe us that that the capacity of the government to plan and implement schemes has diminished will, I hope, believe us now,” he added.
He further said that the economy will trudge along on the old path and deliver no more than the usual 6 per cent or 6.5 per cent growth in 2025-26.
“She is not willing to de-regulate. She is not willing to get out of the way of the people, especially the entrepreneurs and the MSMEs and the start-ups. It is the bureaucracy that will be happy with this Budget. The stranglehold of the government on the activities of the people is getting tighter,” the senior Congress leader said.
“This is a far cry from the 8 per cent growth rate that the CEA estimated in order to become a developed country. In our view, this is a government with no new ideas and no will to reach beyond its grasp,” he added.
She also announced initiatives like a national mission for cotton production and the establishment of a Makhana Board in Bihar. The opposition has linked the Bihar-centric announcements to political calculations, given the upcoming elections in the state.
This marks the second consecutive year that Bihar has received significant allocations in the Union Budget. Last year, the Centre had announced development projects worth Rs 58,900 crore, including road projects, a 2,400MW power plant, and flood management initiatives.
The finance minister also unveiled plans to establish daycare cancer centres in district hospitals, add 10,000 seats in medical colleges, and provide broadband connectivity to government secondary schools and primary healthcare centres.
