rediff.com: Opposition ridicules govt over rollback

Opposition in the Lok Sabha made a scathing attack on government's economic management and said despite the concessions announced in the Union Budget on Friday the BJP-led coalition was in a "lose, lose situation" as people are fed up with it.

Participating in a discussion on the Finance Bill, they said the recent election results in some states showed that people were disenchanted with the functioning of the ruling combine at the Centre.

Initiating the discussion, Pawan Kumar Bansal (Congress) said the concessions announced by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Friday reflected the "muddled thinking" of the government.

He said the budgetary proposals were a severe attack on the middle class with the salaried sections the worst-hit.

Regretting that the Government had failed to come out with a strategy to reverse the economic slowdown, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition had used 'swadeshi' not as an ideology but as a ploy.

Criticising the Budget, Tarit Baran Topdar (Communist Party Marxist) said all the budgetary proposals were only for the benefit of the rich while the burden on masses had increased.

However, lauding the Budget, Sanjay Paswan (BJP) said the government had to take hard decisions in the larger interest of the country and due to these decisions, a certain section of the community was affected.

Welcoming the sops offered by the finance minister, Congress member Mani Shanker Aiyar called for review of the cotton textile policy.

He said the industry was passing through a deep depression and there was need to ensure that attention was paid to this sector and better facilities were extended to it.

Aiyar said the tea industry in the country was in doldrums and urged the government to evolve a new scheme for fresh plantation.

The Congress member stressed that tea should be treated as an essential commodity and demanded lowering of import duty on tea bagging machines.



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