Delhi deprived of its share in taxes, says Sisodia of Budget

Manish Sisodia

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday expressed his disappointment with the Union Budget 2017-18 and said that Delhi had again been deprived of its due share in central taxes. "My initial response is Delhi has been deprived of its due from central share in this year's budget too... Delhi's share in central taxes remains stagnant for the 17th year at Rs 325 crore," Sisodia tweeted soon after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the Budget in the Lok Sabha here. Sisodia also slammed Jaitley for not going all the way to do away with anonymous donations to political parties. "Why are political parties free to accept cash donations up to Rs 2,000? Why does a vegetable vendor need to go cashless for even transactions of Rs 20 and parties can accept Rs 2,000 in cash," Sisodia asked. In his budget speech on Wednesday, Jaitley announced that political parties receiving donations above Rs 2,000 will now have to disclose the identity of the donor. Earlier, political parties were allowed to receive in anonymous cash donations of upto Rs 20,000 in cash.