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Quota bonhomie over, BJP slams Govt on Budget
After supporting the government on the quota Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP is back in the opposition mode during the Budget debate.
After supporting the government on the quota Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP is back in the opposition mode during the Budget debate.
Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the budgetary provision would fuel inflation, especially in sectors related to food, healthcare, education and housing.
“The devil in the Budget lies in details which are clearly concealed,” he said. “The Budget would hurt the common man, particularly the middle class.” The poor, he said, would “sink”.
While the Budget lacked bold initiatives to address agrarian crisis, the document cleverly added a host of areas under the service tax net. These include healthcare, housing, low cost air travel and rail freight.
He said in areas like insurance premium on healthcare and installment payments for middle class housing, the service tax has been imposed, while the rich have been spared. “Why should private healthcare be costlier? Salaried employees will have to pay 10 per cent more on health checks undertaken by them.”
