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Rahul Gandhi likely to be first speaker for Congress in budget debate in Lok Sabha
The Congress leader has been targeting the Union government over the budget, accusing it of reducing the pension of soldiers.
Rahul Gandhi is likely to initiate the debate on the Union Budget on behalf of the Congress in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
"We had given Shashi Tharoor's name as the first speaker. But it can change," said Chowdhury, the party's floor leader. The budget on debate is likely to take place after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to motion of thanks to President's address.
Gandhi has been attacking the central government on various issues, ranging from the standoff on Line of Actual Control (LAC) to Union Budget.
The Congress MP from Wayanad in Kerala accused the Centre of reducing the pension of soldiers in the budget and ignoring the farmers and youth of the nation.
Sharpening his attack further, he also said that the Centre has only three to four industrialist friends who are 'God' for them.
"Mr Modi’s ‘Vikas’- PSUs to be shrunk to one-tenth. Country’s loss, crony’s gain," Gandhi had said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Earlier too, the Congress leader had targeted the Union government over the budget, saying that cowardice runs deep in the government of India.
Taking to Twitter, he had stated that in her budget speech this year, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman used the word "Prime Minister" six times and the word "corporates/ companies" 17 times but did not mention "defence" and "China" even once.
"Modi’s crony centric budget means- Jawans facing Chinese aggression in extreme conditions will get no support. India’s defenders betrayed," Gandhi said in one of his recent tweets after the budget.
Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2021-22 in Lok Sabha on February 1.
