Opposition firebrand Dimple Yadav ignited a storm after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Lok Sabha budget rejoinder, branding it a covert Bengal election manifesto.
Post-session, Yadav confronted journalists: Sitharaman zeroed in on Bengal’s women crime stats, muting voices from UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Odisha. ‘Purely partisan, election-geared rhetoric,’ she alleged.
Yadav pivoted to trade woes, slamming the India-US deal for endangering farmers and SMEs. ‘Our agrarian heart and mini-factories face ruin,’ she prophesied, calling for protective measures.
Fellow SP MP Priya Saroj tore into the allocations: zero farmer focus, no public upliftment. ‘Grand promises sans execution; nothing for youth or masses,’ she vented. Unanswered queries from party president Akhilesh Yadav epitomized the letdown.
Dubbed a ‘numbers and polls budget,’ it obsessed over Bengal mentions sans substance on schooling, medicare, farming, jobs—provoking SP’s House uproar.
Anand Bhadauriya defended their attentiveness: no exit, but the delivery rang false—electioneering over elucidation. ‘Evading queries, chasing Bengal’s arrears and votes,’ he summarized.
The episode amplifies political polarization, framing the budget as a strategic ploy in the electoral chessboard.