Congress MPs Karti Chidambaram and Kumari Selja slam Union Budget

New Delhi [India], February 1 : Congress MPs Karti Chidambaram and Kumari Selja have both raised concerns about the Union Budget 2025, accusing the government of offering vague proposals without addressing key issues facing the country.
Speaking to ANI, Karti Chidambaram questioned the budget's actual impact, stating, "Look at the details before we can really give an intelligent comment about the budget. Because the budget is always the devil is in the details and really can't make up our minds one way or the other merely by hearing the finance minister's speech."
He said that while new proposals were introduced, it's important to assess the progress of initiatives announced in previous budgets. "Some grand schemes were announced in the previous budget as well. So what is the status of them?" Chidambaram added.
He also criticized the government's approach to election-driven proposals, remarking that every time a state election approaches, it seems to get disproportionate attention. "It gets a disproportionate amount of attention. But that seems to be the political direction in which budgets are made these days," he concluded.
Meanwhile, Kumari Selja, another Congress MP, criticized the budget for failing to address the needs of farmers and workers.
"Farmers didn't get MSP. They talked about nuclear but our nuclear power plant in Haryana's Gorakhpur (Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana) has been there for a long time and both are happening there," she said.
Selja also pointed out the absence of any significant announcements on MGNREGA, which is crucial for rural employment. "All that was announced was mainly because of elections in Bihar and Delhi," she remarked.
Meanwhile, The Finance Minister in her Buget speech had some good news for Bihar with the announcements of some sops for the state. However, this has come under criticis, from the opposition who questioned the timing.
Congress MP Manish Tewari has accused the Centre for ignoring other States other than Bihar in this year's Union Budget.
"I fail to understand that was this a budget of government of India or was this a budget of government of Bihar? Have you heard the name of another state than Bihar in the entire budgetary speech of the union finance minister?" Tewari told ANI.
Alluding to the critical support of the Janata Dal (United) that the BJP needed at the Centre, he said, "This government is on crutches. To keep this crutches intact, the government ignored the development interest of the other states.
"When asked about the tax exemption announcements in the Budget, he said, "Tax proposals have to be studied carefully. Finance Minister has made certain assertions; those assertions would have to be looked at."
Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also accused the Union Government of ignoring the farmers and the people of Punjab.
"Look at the names of the states - Bihar, which is going to elections. Only Bihar, Bihar, Bihar. There was no mention of Punjab. Farmers are sitting in protest for the past 4 years over legal guarantee for MSP. What did they announce for farmers? Makhana Board. This was an anti-farmer Budget. Farmers who are fighting for their rights were not heard, this is sad," she said.