Budget 2023 will only immerse India in debt: Manish Sisodia

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. File Pic

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia called the Union Budget 2023-24 announced by the BJP-led Centre on Wednesday nothing but a 'jumla' and said it would only immerse the country in debt.

Sisodia, who is also the Finance minister of Delhi, said this budget will add a debt of Rs 15 lakh crore.

"We all know that the BJP has made terms like 'acche din' a jumla. The budget by BJP-led Centre is nothing but a jumla. We have heard many such jumlas in the past -- like introduction of bullet trains or the promise of doubling farmers' income or creating 60 lakh jobs," he said during a press conference.

Also Read: 'Callous' budget that has betrayed hopes of vast majority of people: P Chidambaram

Alleging that the budget will further immerse the country in debt, he said that till 2014, the Centre had a debt of Rs 53 lakh crore and during two successive terms of the BJP-led NDA government, the country came under a debt of Rs 150 lakh crore and "this budget will further immerse the country under additional Rs 15 lakh crore debt".

"You speak to any economist. This is a dangerous thing," he said.

The budget is disappointing for Delhiites, he said, adding that only Rs 325 crore was allocated for the national capital under the subhead of grant in lieu of taxes even though Delhi pays over 1.75 lakh crore income tax. The amount of Rs 325 crore has remained unchanged for the last 22 years, Sisodia claimed.

He claimed that the budget had nothing to offer for employment generation or inflation and opined that it "only had announcements for superrich".

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