‘Vague’: Shashi Tharoor analyses ‘language’ of Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2024 speech

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said it was one of the shortest budget speeches on record.

New Delhi: The Opposition on Thursday slammed finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Interim Budget speech, saying not "very much came out of it" and that she used "rhetorical language".

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor at Parliament House complex during the Budget session. (PTI)

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said it was one of the shortest budget speeches on record and that Sitharaman used vague language. He said very few figures were used in the speech.

"It was one of the shortest speeches on record in the Budget. Not very much came out of it. As usual, a lot of rhetorical language, very little concrete on implementation. She talked about foreign investment without acknowledging that investment has come down significantly," Tharoor claimed.

Shashi Tharoor called the budget speech very disappointing.

"She talked about a number of things which are couched in vague language like 'confidence' and 'hope' and so on. But when it comes to hard figures, very few figures available...This is going to be a very disappointing speech in terms of being couched entirely in generalities and without enough substance nor any willingness to address the specific problems of the economy," he added.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed this was the Narendra Modi government's farewell budget.

"If any budget is not aimed at development, if any budget is not for the people than it is a waste. The BJP government has made a shameful record of the governance over the last ten years, which will never be broken because a positive government will soon come. This is BJP's farewell budget," he wrote on X.

Congress MP Manish Tewari said the budget deficit is worrying.

"It is a 'vote-on-account' which has only one purpose to keep the government solvent for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. What's worrying is that there is a budget deficit of ₹18 lakh crores. This means that the government is borrowing for its expenditure. This number is only going to increase next year," he said.

Nirmala Sitharaman today said the rates for direct and indirect taxes, including import duties, will remain the same.

"The revised estimate of the fiscal deficit is 5.8% of GDP, improving on the budget estimate notwithstanding moderation in the nominal growth estimates," she said.

She said FDI is first develop India.

"FDI inflow during 2014 to 2023 was ₹596 billion US dollars, marking a golden era. This was twice the FDI inflow between 2005 to 2014. For sustained FDI, we are negotiating bilateral investment treaties with foreign partners," she said.

She also said in the full budget in July, the government will present a detailed roadmap for "our pursuit of Viksit Bharat."

With inputs from PTI, ANI