Union Budget was totally disappointing: Jaipal Reddy

Former Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Thursday described the Union Budget as totally disappointing and said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has failed to address the concerns of common man in his budget speech.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan here, Jaipal Reddy said that the Union Budget for 2017-18, presented by Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, was one of the worst budget. He said that the budget lacked clarity on development plans. Further, he accused the Finance Minister of treating the negative impact of demonitisation very lightly. He said people had lot of expectation from the Centre after the note ban. However, nothing was reflected in Jaitley's speech.

Jaipal Reddy said that country's GDP has decreased by nearly 2% ever since BJP-led NDA Government took over at the Centre. He feared that the growth rate might be affected further if Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues with his ill-conceived economic policies. He said there was no relief in the budget for farmers, the worst hit sector due to demonitisation.

Speaking about Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, the Congress leaders said Telangana got nothing in the Union Budget while the Centre has showered several sops for other States. He said injustice to Telangana was admitted by TRS MP K. Kavitha herself. He alleged that KCR has mortgaged the interests of Telangana before BJP Government only for personal gains.

Jaipal Reddy also condemned the Central Government for not adjourning the House over the demise of sitting MP and Muslim League president E. Ahamed. He said that the BJP-led NDA Government has deviated from the precedent of adjourning the House in case of demise of sitting members. Despite request by Congress floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge, the government went ahead of budget presentation. By doing so, he said that the BJP Government has exhibited its communalism.