'Union Budget has betrayed hopes of people': Congress

The party also said the kind of Budget presented was evidence that people were losing trust in the Narendra Modi-led government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"Modi government's budget is an evidence that people are losing faith in the BJP. This is a budget made keeping in mind the elections only, not the country," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a series of tweets, in his first reaction to the Union Budget 2023, which was presented by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament here on Wednesday.

He also termed the budget as 'Naam Bade Aur Darshan Chhote Budget'

The Congress chief also claimed that no effort was made by the ruling dispensation to find a solution to the unemployment problem in this budget.

"There is nothing in this budget for the welfare of Dalits, tribals and backward classes," he asserted.

Attacking the ruling BJP, Kharge said, " Apart from looting the country's wealth, the Modi government has done nothing."

Echoing a similar sentiment, former Congress president and MP Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "This Budget proves the government has no roadmap to build India’s future."

"Mitr Kaal Budget has: No vision to create Jobs, No plan to tackle Mehngai, No intent to stem Inequality. 1 per cent richest own 40 per cent wealth, 50 per cent poorest pay 64 per cent of GST, 42 per cent youth are unemployed- yet, PM doesn’t Care!," the Wayanad MP, who has been accusing the Modi government of benefitting few industrialists, said attacking the Centre.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, senior party leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "The Budget speech of the Finance Minister shows how far this government is removed from the people and their concerns about life, livelihood and the growing inequality between the rich and the poor."

He added, "The FM has not mentioned the words unemployment, poverty, inequality or equity anywhere in her speech. Mercifully, she (Sitharaman) has mentioned the word 'poor' twice in her speech. I am sure the people of India will take note of who is in the concerns of the government and who is not."

"Who has benefited from this Budget? Certainly, not the poor. Not the youth looking desperately for jobs. Not those who have been laid off. Not the bulk of the taxpayers. Not the homemaker. Not the thinking Indians who are shocked by the growing inequality, the rise of the number of billionaires and the wealth being accumulated in the hands of the 1 per cent of the population,' the senior leader said.

This is a "callous" budget that has betrayed the hopes of the vast majority of the people, Chidambaram asserted.