The Congress party has denounced the Centre over the Union Budget 2025 accusing the ruling BJP of timing the budget for its electoral gains ahead of Delhi assembly polls.

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The grand old party further said the budget failed to address the economy's major pain points, including stagnant real wages, lack of buoyancy in mass consumption, sluggish rates of private investment, and a complicated GST system.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The economy is suffering from four related crises -- stagnant real wages, lack of buoyancy in mass consumption, sluggish rates of private investment, complex and complicated GST system."

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"The Budget does nothing to address these illnesses. The only relief has been for income tax payers. What actual impact this will have on the economy remains to be seen," he wrote on X.

He further took a swipe at the Narendra Modi government stating that even though Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about four engines of development, the Budget was "completely derailed".

"The FM spoke of four engines: Agriculture, MSMEs, Investment, and Exports. So many engines that the Budget has been completely derailed," said Ramesh.

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'Bihar got bonanza, Andhra cruelly ignored' 

He further said that while the state of Bihar appeared to have received a bonanza in the budget Andhra Pradesh was "cruelly ignored".

"Bihar appears to have got a bonanza of announcements. It is natural since elections are due there later in the year. But why has the other pillar of the NDA, namely Andhra Pradesh, been so cruelly ignored?" he wrote in a post on social media.

It is pertinent to mention that Andhra Pradesh's ruling Telugu Desam Party is a key ally in the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

‘To benefit from income tax relief, you need a job,’ says Shashi Tharoor 

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took a dig at the Centre over the budget, stating that to avail the benefit from tax exemption, one needs to be employed.

"I think, frankly, the applause you heard from the BJP benches was for the middle-class tax cut. We look at the details and that may be a good thing. So if you have a salary, you may be paying less tax. But the important question is, what happens if we don't have a salary?" Tharoor questioned.

"Where is the income going to come from? For you to benefit from income tax relief, you actually need jobs. Unemployment was not mentioned by the Finance Minister. Ironic that the party that wants one nation, one election is actually using each election in each state each year to give them more freebies. They may as well have multiple elections so they can get more applause from their allies," the Congress MP added.

Also read: Union Budget 2025: 36 life saving drugs, medicines fully exempted from custom duty

TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha calls budget a mere 'election-year lollipop'

TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha took a jibe at the Centre, calling the budget a mere "election-year lollipop".

"Bihar is my strength and I felt good about the provisions to Bihar, but it is also a time of elections, so was this an electoral budget taking Bihar on forefront?... Infrastructural development in Bihar is good, but is this enough? What happened to the big special packages mentioned earlier?... This budget, kept in view of Bihar, seems like a lollipop... Now about the salaried class, the exemption should have been 15 lakhs instead of 12 lakhs, but still, we appreciate it... A lot of things still need to be studied," said Sinha. 

Modi hails budget

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (Feb 1) hailed the Union Budget 2025 as a crucial milestone in India's development journey, emphasising its focus on fulfilling the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians.

PM Modi envisions the common citizen driving the mission of Viksit Bharat, a testament to the government's commitment to inclusive growth and development.

"Today is an important milestone in India's development journey. This is the budget of aspirations of 140 crore Indians. This is a budget that fulfils the dreams of every Indian. We have opened many sectors for the youth. The common citizen is going to drive the mission of Viksit Bharat," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)