Budget ignores interests of youth, farmers: SP, BSP leaders

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday termed the Union Budget 2024-25 as a disappointment for the poor, unemployed and farmers.

Speaking to reporters after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in Parliament, Yadav linked her announcements of several development measures for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to the BJP's political compulsion to "save" its government and asked if there was anything for Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.

Yadav said Uttar Pradesh has given the country its prime minister, claiming that the state's farmers have received nothing despite the government's earlier promises of doubling their income.

Meanwhile, the BSP chief said while the country is struggling with extreme poverty, unemployment, inflation and underdevelopment, the government at the Centre has no intentions of working towards its upliftment.

In a post on X, Mayawati said, "The Union Budget presented in Parliament today follows the same old pattern, where except for a handful of rich and wealthy people, it offers little hope of good days for the country's poor, unemployed, farmers, women, labourers, marginalised and neglected 'bahujans' (communities) and is more full of disappointment for them."

"This new government also lacks the required reformist policies and intentions for the upliftment of over 125 crore underprivileged sections and the provision of basic facilities for them. Will people's lives become happy and prosperous with such provisions in the budget?," she said in the post.

Mayawati said that the development of the country and the upliftment of its people should not be a maze of statistics.

However, Yadav said Andhra's ruling TDP and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) are crucial BJP allies in the government and have been pushing for financial assistance to their states.

The state has no "mandi" for farmers, and the budget's announcement for the highway from Buxar in Bihar should have included extension to Purvanchal Expressway, he said.

Yadav played down the announcement of internship for the youth, saying they want permanent jobs and not short-term measures.

"Will reservation be given for these short-term employment initiatives," he asked, blaming the government for unemployment.

Echoing similar views, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said Sitharaman did not even name Uttar Pradesh once in her speech.

He asked, "Can India be developed without developing Uttar Pradesh? Agriculture has been overlooked and there was nothing on rural development. Agriculture sector has the lowest allocation. This is a disappointing budget. You cannot give employment by just giving internship."

With PTI inputs