Mumbai and Maharashtra ignored in union annual budget, says Opposition

NEW DELHI: Mumbai and Maharashtra is the highest tax contributors to the centre, but in the annual budget, the financial capital has been ignored by the finance minister, alleged the Opposition.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole alleged that Mumbai, the financial capital of India contributes to the highest ratio of taxes, but got nothing in return from the budget.

in return it has got nothing in the annual central budget.

“This budget is nothing but the mix of catchy slogans, rhetoric, jugglery of numbers and false dreams,” Patole alleged.

Patole added the finance minister did not utter a single word on the burning issues like inflation, unemployment, problems faced by farmers, MANREGA, fuel and gas prices. “Agriculture sector has been completely ignored in the budget. The fund allocations on previous agriculture schemes either reduced or stopped giving. This is not the good sign. Maharashtra pays the highest amount in form of taxes, but it has been neglected in the budget,” Patole added.

Maharashtra NCP unit president Jayant Patil termed the budget as election budget.

“The Income of the middle class has not risen since the last several years and the government announced an increase in the tax slab for the middle class. This is irony and rubbing salt on their wounds. The large number of lay off is happening in the IT sector, besides salaries class in other sectors are not satisfied with their stagnant income and here the government is trying to make them happy by giving tax rebate in higher tax slab upto 7 lakh,” Patil said.

Patil said that Maharashtra CM and deputy chief minister should ask the centre, why Maharashtra has been always ignored in their regime? He said the neighbouring states got huge amounts of funds and schemes, but not Maharashtra.

“PM Narendra Modi had promised to double farmers' income, what happened with this promise? Mumbai used to be the centre point in the earlier annual union budget, but it has been completely missing now,” Patil alleged.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde defended the budget and called it an inclusive budget. He said that the budget has tried to give justice to all sections of the society.