‘Widespread Disappointment, Farmers & Youth Ignored’: Sonia Slams Modi Govt Budget At Congress Meet

Sonia Gandhi attacked the Central government over the Union Budget saying that the farmers and the youth of the country were ignored.

Parliament Monsoon Session: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday criticised the Union Budget 2024-25 and said that there has been widespread disappointment with the Union Budget and farmers and the youth of the country have been ignored.

While speaking at the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, she said, "There has been widespread disappointment with the Union Budget despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi, FM Nirmala Sitharaman talking it up," as quoted by news agency PTI. "Pressing demands of farmers and youth in particular totally ignored in Union Budget," she also said.

Earlier in the day, a moment of silence was observed for the victims of the Wayanad landslide at the General Body meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in Parliament.

At least 143 people were reported dead in the twin landslides that hit Kerala's Wayanad district early on Tuesday, said Kerala Health Department as rescue operations entered second day on Wednesday, as reported by news agency ANI. The landslides in Wayanad were triggered after the permanent structure was washed away following the torrential rainfall in the region. 

Speaking on the upcoming assembly polls in key states, Sonia Gandhi said the "mahaul (public mood)" is in the party's favour but there is a need to sustain the momentum and goodwill generated for it in the Lok Sabha elections.

"We must not become complacent and over confident...I dare say that if we perform well, reflecting the trend that we witnessed in the Lok Sabha elections, national politics will undergo a transformation," she told the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), as quoted by PTI.

Gandhi also accused the Modi government of not drawing the right lessons from "their significant decline" in the Lok Sabha elections and persisting with their policy of "dividing communities and spreading an atmosphere of fear and animosity".

"Fortunately, the Supreme Court intervened at the right time," she said in an apparent reference to the stay on the orders passed by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand government asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the name of owners.

"But this can only be a temporary respite. Look at how the rules have been suddenly changed to permit the bureaucracy to participate in the activities of the RSS. It calls itself a cultural organisation but the whole world knows that it is the BJP’s political and ideological base," Gandhi said.