Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, whose ambivalent stance on government policies had created a buzz about his growing ‘closeness’ to the ruling party, took potshots at the budget during his speech in the Lok Sabha.
Tharoor hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying “I am reminded of a garage mechanic who said, ‘I could not fix your brakes, so I made the horn louder’. Looking at this year's Finance Bill, the finance minister has slightly changed her tune. She is now telling taxpayers, ‘I could not repair the roof, so I brought you an umbrella’.”
The Congress MP said, “This Finance Bill was a classic case of patchwork solution at a time when the nation needs clarity, conviction and decisive leadership.”
Not just the Congress MP, but other opposition MPs also hit out at the government during the debate on the Finance Bill. The BJP MPs, Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey, spoke strongly in favour of the bill. The finance minister is expected to reply to the discussion on Tuesday before the bill is passed.
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Tharoor asked the finance minister if she would present some magician method to address the economic issues. “How can the government claim it will cut the fiscal deficit to 4.4 per cent for the coming financial year? The maths do not add up. Are you offering us jadugar economics? How can we reduce the fiscal deficit in these circumstances and if we do, who pays the price?”
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey during his speech argued that they were not doing any magic but were doing the hard work and labour as the Narendra Modi government had done in the last 10 years.
Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra also hit out at the government saying it supported crony capitalists.
“Albert Einstein had said that the hardest thing in the world was to understand income tax. Similarly, we find it very hard to understand the government’s taxation policy. It continues to widen the divide between the two Indias – a Kuber’s India for the elite, and another Vishwakarma’s India for the masses who are bearing the brunt of economic mismanagement,” she said.
Moitra said the government had slashed the food subsidies. "MGNREGA is still underfunded. Last year’s allocation was Rs. 86,000 crore. This year’s allocation is also Rs. 86,000 crore, even though there is a higher demand."
“I oppose this bill because it taxes the wealth creators, ignores the poor, and empowers the government with unchecked powers of intrusion. India deserves better,” Moitra said.
As Congress MP K.C. Venugopal alleged that a corporate loan worth Rs 18 lakh crore has been written off by the BJP government, the finance minister intervened saying that written off does not mean that the money has been given away. “The government is following up with cases.”
DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy argued that in the last 10 years, Tamil Nadu has paid about Rs 8 lakh crore in the form of direct taxes, but the devolution which has come back to Tamil Nadu is only about Rs. 2.4 lakh crore. “An amount of Rs 5.6 lakh crore has been utilized by the Union government where it has been disbursed to other States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and other less performing states.”
Congress MP Hibi Eden, in his speech, talked about the north-south divide in GST on food. “Banana fritters and dal vada were taxed at 18 per cent in Kerala, while north Indian sweets attracted only five per cent GST.”
NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule asked the government to clear its stance on the tariffs. “Tariffs are a big concern for all of us. I want a clear-cut reply on unilateral zero tariffs for agri-products.”
The MP asked what discussions the government had had with America on this. “I want to know the stand of this government on the unilateral zero tariff for agri-products. Are they going to agree to this? ...we will not compromise with this for the farmers of this nation, and the policy will remain the same.”
