Budget 2024: ‘Nothing to cheer about for people, EXCEPT…,’ says Congress MP Shashi Tharoor

Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor termed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Bugdet an ‘underwhelming’ one, which has simply ‘not addressed’ key issues. The Budget, the former Union Minister said, has nothing to offer for people, except those from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh – the two states governed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s key allies.

“There are many things missing. There was no mention of MNREGA. There was no mention of any serious measures to improve the income of the bottom 40 per cent of our population whose incomes have gone down. There was very little addressing of inequality in our country today. More than 60 per cent of our people have seen income dropping in last ten years. What are they doing about that? Very little," Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said in a video post on the Union Budget after it was presented in Parliament on July 23.

Sitharaman presented her record seventh consecutive Union Budget 2024-25 today in the Parliament. The FM introduced increased standard deduction and revised tax rates for salaried individuals under the new tax regime. Besides this, a cut in customs duty on gold, silver, mobile phones and other goods were also announced.

"I would say there has been very very little to cheer about. No wonder even the share markets have reacted badly as have ordinary people except those in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh perhaps… where the government, for its own political reasons, has satisfied… two states. There are 26 other states in the country. People there have no other reason to be happy, ” Tharoor said.

Sitharaman announced significant financial aid for Andhra Pradesh and major infrastructure projects for Bihar. Andhra Pradesh is governed by N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party government. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United is in power. Both the TDP and the JD-U are allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.

Tuesday's Budget comes in the backdrop of a changed political landscape in the country. The BJP fell short of the majority mark in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 forcing it to rely on its NDA allies – the TDP and the JD-U.