Sudhanshu Trivedi Discusses Union Budget 2024, Supriya Shrinate Corners Him With Question

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on Tuesday, addressing expectations following Narendra Modi's government securing a third consecutive term. The budget aimed to benefit all economic classes, providing significant relief for new tax regime taxpayers through increased standard deductions. However, the increase in short-term and long-term capital gains taxes and the removal of indexation benefits led to some disappointment.

Sitharaman emphasized employment, skill development, and middle-class relief in her budget speech. The government announced incentives for companies providing staff training, reduced corporate tax for foreign firms, affordable education loans, and doubled Mudra loans for small businesses. Changes in the new tax regime are expected to save the salaried class ₹17,500 annually, and family pension deductions have been increased to ₹25,000, benefiting around 40 million people.

Despite opposition criticism, Sitharaman highlighted significant aid: ₹1.5 lakh crore allocated to all states, three cancer drugs made cheaper, and reductions in the prices of mobile phones, chargers, gold, and silver. The removal of angel tax aims to support startups, and a plan to expedite income tax-related legal cases has been introduced. E-commerce operators' TDS has been reduced from 1% to 0.1%. For the fiscal year 2025, the capital expenditure is set at ₹11.11 lakh crore.

 Congress leader Supriya Shrinate called the budget a "seat-saving budget," expressing satisfaction with aid to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh but hoping it will prevent bridge collapses in Bihar. She also criticized the budget as being out of touch.

Sudhanshu Trivedi defended the budget, stating that the growth rate is 7.2% compared to 2% during the previous administration and that inflation is lower now. He accused the opposition of politicizing the budget and challenged them to implement MSP in Congress-ruled states like Punjab and Karnataka if they are genuinely concerned about farmers.

Supriya Shrinate argued that the middle class, once supportive, has now distanced itself from the BJP, criticizing the party for breaking their trust. Trivedi claimed that while the Aam Aadmi Party alliance in Delhi has collapsed and there is conflict with Mamata in Kolkata, opposition leaders are wrongly claiming that the government is failing. He noted discrepancies in the opposition's statements, highlighting that while they claim significant aid to Bihar, local leaders like Lalu are criticizing it as insufficient.