While the ruling BJP said the Budget would result in overall development and herald transparency, Opposition parties said Arun Jaitley’s fourth annual financial statement contained half-hearted measures that would suffocate growth.

BJP President Amit Shah, terming the Budget pro-farmer, said it would help the poor and the middle class realise their dreams of owning a house. “It is a Budget aimed at all-round development. On the one hand it is pro-village and pro-farmer, and on the other, it also provides new possibilities for youths willing to strike out on their own,” he said.

Shah said the outlay of ₹10 lakh crore for agriculture credit, the micro-irrigation fund of ₹5,000 crore and the increase in allocation for the PM Fasal Bima Yojana would help the farmer. “Increased allocation for MNREGA at ₹48,000 crore, from the earlier ₹37,000 crore, will help create assets in rural India,” he said and added: “The Prime Minister’s and Finance Minister’s focus on providing social security, health care and affordable housing for the poor and underprivileged is laudable.”

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said the budget failed to address the problems faced by the country at present. “The main issue India faces today is unemployment and the ways to solve that problem. The budget offers absolutely nothing on that issue. No vision. No idea. We were expecting some fireworks... we got a bit of damp squib,” the Amethi MP said.

He said there was a big expectation that there would be something for farmers, poor, youth and the unemployed. “But there was no clear vision. There was some poetry. Jaitely gave a good speech, but without a basis,” he said.

“In his first speech, Narendra Modi spoke about bullet trains. Has the bullet train come? The fundamental problem of Railways is safety. This government’s record on rail safety is very bad. But did he speak about safety?” he asked.

Former Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the Budget had no proposals or incentive to improve investments. “This government is dishonest and insensitive to the sufferings of the people,” Sharma said.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Budget speech did not have even a word on the burgeoning non-performing assets.

“The Budget talks about confiscating properties of defaulters who have left the country. What about those who are remain in the country? The whole budget is of ₹24 lakh crore and the NPAs are ₹11 lakh crore,” Yechury said.

Terming the Budget “disappointing and regressive”, the Rajya Sabha MP said it is contractionary, against accelerating growth and offers nothing to develop infrastructure. “It is a direct attack on people’s livelihood,” he said. The fiscal deficit target has been achieved through expenditure reduction.

Yechury added that the total revenue receipts have come down from 9.4 per cent of GDP in 2016-17 Revised Estimate (RE) to 9 per cent of GDP in Budget Estimate (BE) of 2017-18. “Taxes forgone due to budgetary measures have gone up by about ₹30,000 crore and are put at 2.1 per cent of GDP,” he added.

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