NEW DELHI: With the declaration of the Union Budget 2017, power corridors were replete with
reactions from various quarters to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's speech in Parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “The FM has presented an ‘Uttam’ Budget, devoted to strengthening the hands of the poor."
Also, power minister Piyush Goyal tweeted: “Congratulate @arunjaitley ji on reform
oriented budget with concessions to middle class & SMEs while maintaining taxes through compliance.”
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said: “We were expecting fireworks, instead it was a damp squib. It is just‘sher-o shayari ’ in the budget. There is nothing for farmers and youth and nothing
for job creation. There is no clear vision.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday criticised the Union Budget as "clueless and missionless " and said it had no roadmap for the country or the future, from a government "that has
lost all the credibility". The TMC supremo sought to know the figures due to the demonetisation move, saying taxpayers were still saddled with restrictions on withdrawals.
"A controversial #Budget2017 which is clueless, useless, baseless, missionless and actionless. Heartless. No roadmap for the country or the future from a government that has lost all its credibility,"
she wrote on Twitter. Baijayant Jay Panda of the Biju Janata Dal said: “Political funding reforms
historic. I’ve been advocating for years.”
RJD President Lalu Prasad denounced the Union Budget as "bereft of any substance" and questioned the rationale of continuing with a Railway minister who did not present the Budget of the ministry.
He also described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "twin brother" of new American President Donald Trump who he said was seen "taking wayward decisions" since ascending to the top chair in the US.
Describing the Budget as growth oriented, Railway minister Suresh Prabhu, said, “The growth will happen because of huge investments that are happening. For example in railways, the provision for
`1.31 lakh crore for capital expenditure is unprecedented in railway history.”
Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh added: “Like previous year, this year also the central budget has been announced with a number of financial provisions in public interest. This budget will
accelerate the growth and development of the nation. The Centre has emphasised on maximising the employment opportunities in the general budget and has paid special attention to inclusion of poor section of society in financial provisions of every scheme.”
Calling the Budget routine, C Rangarajan, former RBI governor, said: “It was a fairly routine Budget... in the sense that there have not been much changes on the revenue side. Nevertheless, I am happy
that the fiscal deficit is maintained at 3.2 per cent. The original roadmap has set it at 3 percent .”
Meanwhile, founder & CEO of Paytm Vijay Shekhar Sharma reacted after the presentation and said the government has pushed the digital theme in every area of the budget and so it can be termed as a
‘digital economy budget’. Sharma said, “Every person from small shops to consumers are pushed towards the digital economy. Tax benefits, incentives to use digital payments and extending loans based on a digital footprint will create a larger merchant ecosystem for digital payments.”
Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Wednesday welcomed the Budget proposals on cleaning-up political funding and abolition of the FIPB as “big signals” of the government’s mindset illustrating its determination to shed legacy and step firmly into the future.“These steps are big signals about the government mindset. (They) show its determination to shed the skin of legacy and step firmly into the future,” the Mahindra group chairman wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.