Mamata Banerjee has harshly criticised the Union Budget 2017.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has criticised the budget on harsh terms, calling it "useless, baseless, missionless, actionless and heartless". In a series of tweets, Ms Banerjee, who had joined her voice to the opposion demand that the presentation of the budget be deferred following the death of Kerala leader E Ahamed, said the budget has failed to present a roadmap for the future. She also reiterated the opposition demand that the government present the "figures for demonetisation" and withdraw all restrictions on cash withdrawal for the tax payers.
Earlier today, Ms Banerjee had tweeted:
Mr Ahamed, who had suffered a cardiac arrest yesterday while in parliament, had died in the night. It is a custom to adjourn parliament for a day after a sitting member dies. But the government pushed ahead with the budget presentation after talking to all parties.
Within minutes of the budget presentation, Ms Banerjee tweeted:
Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress Banerjee's Trinamool Congress boycotted the first two days of the budget session of parliament in "protest against demonetisation, which was implemented without taking parliament into confidence, and restrictions on withdrawal limits from bank accounts."
Writing exclusively for ndtv.com, party lawmaker Derek O Brien said he and his colleagues will not be able to attend the budget presentation on account of Saraswati Puja, which is an important festival in Bengal.
Today, Ms Banerjee further said:
The market rose 500 points after the budget, in which Union finance minister Arun Jaitley defended the notes ban announced by the government on November 8, and slashed tax rates in a lower slabs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has used a special acronym for this year's budget -- FUTURE, which stands for farmers, underprivileged, transparency, urban rejuvenation, rural development, enterprise.