Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the Union Budget for 2023-24 has given "nirasha" (despair) instead of "asha" (hope) to people of the country.
He also claimed that the budget further increases inflation and unemployment.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in Lok Sabha on Wednesday and said it hopes to build on the foundation of the previous budget and blue print for India@100.
"The BJP is completing a decade of its budgets, but when it did not give anything to the public earlier, what will it give now?" Yadav tweeted in Hindi.
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"The BJP's budget further increases inflation and unemployment. It does not give 'asha' but 'nirasha' to farmers, labourers, youth, women, professionals and the business class. This budget is for the benefit of a few rich people," he added.
TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Union Budget is "totally opportunistic" and "anti-people".
She said poor will be deprived, while only one class of people will benefit from this Budget.
Addressing a government function at Bolpur in Birbhum district, she claimed that the changes in the income tax slabs will not help anyone.
"This Union Budget is not futuristic, totally opportunistic, anti-people and anti-poor. It will benefit only one class of people. This Budget will not help address the country's unemployment issue. It has been prepared with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," she said.
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"The changes in the income tax slabs will not help anyone. There is no ray of hope in this Budget -- it is a dark dark budget. Give me half an hour and I will show you how to prepare a Budget for the poor," she added.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman placed the Budget for 2023-24 in Parliament.
She announced no tax for those with an annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh under the new tax regime but made no changes for those who continue in the old regime.
Former MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath said the Finance Minister's budget speech is an attempt to "cover up old promises of the government with 'jumlas'.
"We expected the FM will throw light on the announcements that were to be completed in 2022," he said.
Referring to the "unfulfilled promises" of the BJP-led Central government, Nath tweeted, "the income of farmers was to be doubled by 2022, housing was to be available to every poor by 2022, the bullet train was to run in the country by 2022. But the Finance Minister neither gave any reason for the non-fulfilment of these announcements nor apologized to the people of the country".
The former chief minister said the Budget shows the government intends to divert "the attention of people from the present complex situation by showing hollow dreams of the future".
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"This trend is not good for the country and the economy," he added.
