Union Budget 2025: This is a Budget for poll-bound Bihar, other States ignored: CPI(M)

CPI(M) West Bengal State Secretary Mohammad Salim. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) West Bengal State Secretary Md. Salim said on Saturday (February 1, 2025) that the Budget presented by the Union government was for Bihar. The veteran leader criticised the lack of allocations for women, farmers, the poor, railways, and other sectors. 

He said the Budget has not looked at all the States with the same lens and alleged discrimination. “Bihar is about to go to election that is why all the other States have been ignored,” he said. 

Mr. Salim criticised the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) government for giving 100% foreign direct investment opportunities in the insurance sector. “The interests of our nation have not been addressed in this Budget. Nothing major has been done for farmers, women, the poor, railways, safety, security and healthcare.” 

“Bengal is not in BJP’s scheme of things. They have understood that they will not be able to make any major political profit in Bengal, hence our State only got losses in this Budget,” said Mr Salim. He raised questions about reducing taxes on luxury items and said that does not solve any crisis for the middle class and poor. 

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Reacting to the BJP party leaders calling the 2025 budget “historic”, the leader said, “They have not been a part of history. Their history started in 2014, that is why they can call everything historic. They do not have a 190-year-old long historic freedom struggle of the country. That is why everything they do is historic for them.” 

Mr. Salim said that in a country such as India where getting ration cards and Aadhaar cards involves politics, issuing identity cards for gig workers did not seem a viable option. He said that as a concept cards for gig workers sound idealistic, but people are forced to take up political flags to get any benefits in India, hence any such schemes may turn out to be counterproductive.