Both the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress on Saturday criticised the Union Budget presented on Saturday.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Delhi has yet again been given a “stepmotherly treatment”.
“Delhi has been given stepmotherly treatment in the Budget yet again. If Delhi is not the BJP’s priority, why should Delhiites vote for them? If the BJP is disappointing Delhi before the elections, what will they do after?” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) chief Subhash Chopra termed the Budget “very disappointing” and said it will hamper the city’s development.
“There is no provision in the Budget for improving the law and order situation in the Capital, providing houses to the poor and creating jobs. The Budget is a ‘jumla’ to confuse and mislead people,” Mr. Chopra said.
Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia termed the Budget a “failure”. At a press meet, he said: “Budget for education has come down from 3.6% to 3.2%. This is a fraud. At many points in the Budget, it seems that they are cheating.”
He added: “In this Budget, Delhi’s share in Central taxes has not been increased. It has been ₹325 crore since 2001-02. Delhi deserves its legitimate share in Central taxes to finance various developmental projects. The government had requested the Centre multiple times to enhance the allocation to at least ₹7,000 crore.”
‘Stagnant allocation’
Mr. Sisodia said the Delhi budget has increased from ₹8,739 crore in 2001-02 to ₹60,000 crore in 2019-20, whereas the share in central taxes remains frozen.
“There was a lot of expectation that the salaried class will get some rebate on Income Tax. However, the Central government has deceived the salaried class by its complicated announcement, which means nothing in real-term savings of hard-earned money. If one will not get any exemption on savings, what is the use of the new option?” he asked.
