BJP hails, Left blasts Budget

​Vijayawada: The Left parties expressed their dissatisfaction over Union Budget which was presented by Finance Arun Jaitley in Parliament on Wednesday. The 2017 Union Budget has no use for farmers and common man, the Left parties felt.

CPI State Secretary K Rama Krishna said in a release that Union Budget was pro-corporate. “The Union government had neglected Andhra Pradesh. There were no specific relief for Amaravati and no railway zone,” he added. Special Category Status (SCS), Special Package for backward district of Rayalaseema and north coastal districts were ignored, he lamented. “There is no particular announcement of Special Status,” he said.

According to CPM State Secretary P Madhu, there were no allocations of funds to Kadapa steel plant, railway zone, for filling deficit in State budget. The Centre had cut various subsidies for SCs, STs and farmers, he felt. “State TDP leaders said that huge amount of funds will be allocated to the State. But the Union government has not fulfilled its assurances,” he said.

CITU State secretary and former MLA M A Gaffoor said that the NDA government stands for anti-people and anti-worker policies. There were no steps to uplift the working people, he said. The budget had given top priority to public-private-partnership (PPP) for development of railway and airports, he alleged.

BJP State general secretary J Shyam Kishore, on the other hand, praised Union Budget. He told newsmen that Union government had introduced new system for implementing the budget.

With this budget, funds would be available to all departments in or after March, he said. “The Union Budget is pro-farmer, for rural development and introduced many welfare schemes,” he added.