The entire opposition ranging from the left to the right was united in its criticism of the "anti-people" Union budget presented in Parliament by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday.
As the Congress puts on hold her latest demands - related to railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and his budget - Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee chose to play cool over the general budget and not test its ally's patience further.
"It's a good budget," said Rahul Gandhi even as the Congress commended finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for laying the foundation for future after a difficult year.
Coalition politics comes with compulsions that may hinder the UPA.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) constituents lauded finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for presenting a growth-oriented budget even as the supporting parties termed it "mediocre".
Departing from the familiar references to Kautilya's Arthasastra, the finance minister, in his budget speech, quoted from the 'immortal' Shakespeare's Hamlet "I must be cruel only to be kind". The FM did not but Shakespeare continued: "Thus bad begins ..."
Sitaram Yechury writes.
Armed with the Samajwadi Party's assurance of support, the Congress wants an 'honourable exit' for railways minister Dinesh Trivedi.
The cold response even to some of the populist aspects in this year's budget appears to be the result of an overall negativity that has gripped the UPA-II government.
The Delhi Police have reason to cheer. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has allocating an extra Rs. 526.58 crore for them in the next fiscal year.
Terming the union budget as anti-people, the Indian National Lok Dal supremo and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala today held that it would further hit all sections of the society by escalating the prices of all the essential commodities.
Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today hailed the Union budget 2012-13 presented by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament, describing it "pro-people and progressive".
The government said today it would change a law to allow it to tax foreign firms for acquisitions of assets in the country after it lost a $2.2-billion fight with British mobile phone giant Vodafone.
Budget 2012-13 was "disappointing" and had nothing for women, who comprise half the population, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur said Friday.
Finance minister has been able to address the twin tasks of checking inflation and accelarating growth, Manmohan Singh's office said, quoting him, on the microblogging site Twitter.
Amid the uncertainty over his continuation, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi today attended the meeting of the Union Cabinet.