Ripun Bora terms Union Budget 2021 as "election manifesto" of BJP

 

GUWAHATI: Assam Congress President Ripun Bora has lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid the announcement of the budget, going so far as to term it as an "election manifesto."

 

 

"So, the BJP government has made parliament the place to launch election manifestos for assembly elections. This Budget is nothing more than an election manifesto full of jumlas!," Bora wrote in a tweet.

 

 

As per the budget, 1,300 kilometres of roads will be built in poll-bound Assam. Apart from this, a sum of Rs. 1,000 crore will be distributed among the tea garden workers of Assam and West Bengal -- both headed for polls.

 

 

In significant changes to the taxation process, Sitharaman announced the scrapping of income tax for senior citizens under certain conditions, new rules for removal of double taxation for NRIs, and a reduction in the time period of tax assessments among other measures.

 

 

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Furthermore, the Finance Minister announced that startups will get an extension in their tax holiday for an additional year.

 

 

In health care spending, Sitharaman announced a total spend of around Rs 2 lakh crore on healthcare with Rs 35,000 crore on Covid-19 vaccine development.

 

 

Sitharaman also announced a push to the textile industry, a hike in custom duty on cotton and raw silk, a new cess on agriculture development, a central university in Leh, a focus on sea-weed farming with a new facility in Tamil Nadu and a new vehicle scrapping policy that aims to provide the auto sector a boost among other announcements.