Governor praises Budget, political parties slam it

Chennai: Governor R N Ravi congratulated Union Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman for the Union Budget that ‘prioritized the welfare of the poor, youth, women and farmers,’ while all political parties slammed her for neglecting the interests of the State.

While Ravi said that it was a forward looking budget with emphasis on job creation and infrastructure development, Leader of the opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami called it a big disappointment in all aspects as it aimed to satisfy only the BJP-ruled State.

Palaniswami, in a statement on Tuesday, blamed the ruling DMK and its allies for not ensuring any schemes for the State despite their overwhelming victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Most of the flood relief allocation had been made for Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Assam with nothing for Tamil Nadu, he said.

PMK founder S Ramadoss was also disappointed over the Budget having no special projects for Tamil Nadu and pointed out that many schemes had been announced for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. In his statement he said that Tamil Nadu might stand to benefit from the road between Visakapatinam and Chennai.

TNCC president K Selvaperunthogai said the Budget was regressive as it provided no scope for growth or increase in employment opportunity or removing economic disparity in society.

CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan said that the Budget just aimed at helping the BJP remain in power and MDMK general secretary Vaiko pointed out that it had not addressed the farmers’ demands.