Chandigarh:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress on Sunday of “spreading lies and creating a false narrative” against the BJP-led Centre, and asked the party workers to counter this “falsehood” with facts and data.

Nirmala Sitharaman said this while addressing a meeting of the Chandigarh BJP state executive. Later, she also held a meeting with traders to understand their issues and know their demands.

Referring to the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the Congress has now failed to touch the 250-seat mark in the last 10 general elections.

“Even then, they have an artificial confidence,” she said while pointing towards the Congress’s performance in the last 10 Lok Sabha polls.

“The INDI alliance, comprising 13 political parties, could manage to win just 232 seats, while the BJP on its own won 240 seats,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.

She also pointed out that the Congress could not win a single seat in 14 states in this year’s Lok Sabha election.

The finance minister accused the Congress of “spreading lies” and trying to twist certain statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Union minister Nitin Gadkari in order to create a “false narrative”.

Slamming the Congress for its “lies”, she alleged that the opposition party tried to “spread falsehood” on many issues, including the compensation given to people in Ayodhya for their land acquired for building the Ram temple, the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment and electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Nirmala Sitharaman said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself had stated that his government had given a total compensation amount of Rs 1,733 crore for the land acquired for the Ram temple.

She also accused the Congress of giving false statements against the Agnipath scheme.

“We should seriously understand the strategy of the Congress. Attempts are being made to attack the BJP by making wrong statements, spreading lies and creating a false narrative,” the finance minister said.

She said every “false statement” the opposition party spreads, even on social media, should be countered instantly with facts and data.

Further taking on the Congress, Nirmala Sitharaman said the opposition party and its sympathisers went to courts against several decisions taken by the Centre in the last 10 years, including those related to the Ram temple, abrogating the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, demonetisation, the Central Vista project, the appointment of the chief election commissioner, the National Education Policy and the Mumbai metro project.

On the conduct of Congress leaders in Parliament, she said they raise questions in the House but when ministers give replies to those questions, they stage a walkout.

“That is not the role of a constructive opposition,” she said.

The Union minister said Modi got the mandate to form the government for a third straight time in the Lok Sabha polls.

Similarly, the Congress got less than 100 seats for playing the role of a responsible opposition, she added.

“The Congress must understand that like people give votes to form the government, they gave them votes to remain in the opposition,” she said.

But the Congress is yet to understand this, she asserted.

Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has announced that June 25, the day when the Emergency was declared in 1975, would be observed as “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas”.

“It will remind people of what happened on June 25, 1975 and why did it happen,” she said, adding that every opposition leader was put in jail during that period.

The Union minister asserted that the country is moving forward. “We have very good growth in every sector,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The full Budget for the year 2024-25 will be presented on July 23, with the Parliament session beginning a day earlier, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday.

The Parliamentary Affairs minister said the Budget session will begin on July 22 and is scheduled to end on August 12.

Hon’ble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget,…

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 6, 2024

“Hon’ble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget, 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July, 2024,” the minister posted on X. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the interim Budget in February in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. She will be presenting her seventh consecutive Budget, becoming the first finance minister in India’s history to do so, surpassing the previous record set by Morarji Desai.

This will be the first Budget presented during Narendra Modi’s third term as Prime Minister and also the first under him in which the BJP does not have a majority on its own. 

Expectations from the Budget have been high and were fuelled further when President Droupadi Murmu said in her joint address that it will see “many historic steps” and accelerate the pace of reforms. 

“This Budget will be an effective document of the government’s far-reaching policies and futuristic vision. Along with major economic and social decisions, many historic steps will also be seen in this Budget… “The pace of reforms will be further accelerated in tune with the aspirations of people of India for rapid development,” she had said on June 27.

For the middle and salaried classes, one of the biggest expectations is that there will be a change in the income tax structure which will leave more disposable income in their hands.

Stormy Session?

The special session of the Parliament, the first in the 18th Lok Sabha, witnessed stormy scenes with the strengthened opposition looking to make its presence felt under the new Leader of the Opposition in the House, Rahul Gandhi. In the general elections, the results for which were declared on June 4, the INDIA alliance won 232 seats and restricted the BJP to 240. The NDA, though, has a comfortable majority with 293 MPs.

The NEET paper leak exam issue, Manipur, Emergency, Agnipath scheme and the alleged abuse of the Constitution by the ruling dispensation dominated the special session and are likely to make their presence felt in the Budget session as well.  

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 27 said the Modi Government has reshaped the Union budget in the last 10 years from a mere record of expenditures to a strategic blueprint for equitable distribution.

The Minister asserted that the government would continue to maximise the value of taxpayers’ money by putting it to the best possible use.

She said the Modi Government has prioritised transparency in its budgeting practices and numbers. Countries with transparent budgets are often viewed more favourably by international bodies such as the IMF and World Bank. This can lead to improved global trust.

“This starkly contrasts the @INCIndia-led UPA government’s repetitive practice of hiding the deficits through off-budget borrowings and issuance of ‘Oil Bonds’, which somewhat covertly shifted the fiscal burden to future generations. Under UPA, standard fiscal practices were routinely changed to make Budget numbers look favourable,” Ms. Sitharaman said in a series of posts on X.

She said the last decade has witnessed a substantial improvement in the sanctity and credibility of the Union Budget, leaving past constraints and archaic practices behind.

“Our government has reshaped the budget from a mere record of expenditures into a strategic blueprint for equitable development. We make judicious & efficient use of every rupee collected from our taxpayers and give them a transparent picture of public finances,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Further, she said the Union Budgets under the Modi Government are characterised by fiscal prudence, transparency, and inclusiveness, ensuring investments in social development and infrastructure.

Ms. Sitharaman said the Union Government administers 108 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) through State and UT Governments, with a budget of approximately ₹5.01 lakh crore for FY 2024-25 and ₹4.76 lakh crore for FY 2023-24.

“Previously, it was challenging to ascertain the timeliness and amount of funds released to the implementing agencies under a CSS and to determine whether the funds were from the Centre or the State. Under the SNA model, each State has to identify and designate a Single Nodal Agency (SNA) for every Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS),” the Minister said.

She said effective implementation of the SNA model has brought about greater efficiency in CSS fund utilisation, tracking of funds, and pragmatic and just-in-time release of funds to the states, ultimately contributing to better cash management and savings for the government.

The unspent balance parked in more than 15 lakh bank accounts of implementing agencies was consolidated into 4,500 bank accounts of SNAs. The SNA System also significantly reduced the possibility of fund diversion by the State or Implementing Agencies earmarked for a particular CSS, she said.

The Modi Government, the Minister said, is committed to harnessing cutting-edge technology, enhancing transparency, and pursuing ongoing reforms to lay a strong foundation for a Viksit Bharat.

“We will continue to maximise the value and impact of hard-earned taxpayer money, ensuring it is put to the best possible use for the benefit of all,” she said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during an interaction with Start-Up and Fintech Entities, in New Delhi, on February 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman nudged India’s financial sector regulators to hold monthly meetings with fintechs to address their concerns and mooted a day-long workshop with law enforcement agencies for such firms to raise any issues they may be facing.

Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will work with the Ministry of Finance to examine issues relating to change of ownership holdings and control of listed fintech companies to enable them to be in sync with regulatory compliance requirements.

These were among the key action points that emerged after an interaction with India’s top fintech entities and the Payment Council of India chaired by the Minister on Monday, in the presence of top officials from the ministries of Finance, DPIIT and Electronics and IT, as well as the RBI.

Sources said that fintech entities and start-up founders appeared unfazed by the challenges facing the Paytm Payments Bank Limited and its parent entity. “No Paytm-related anxiety or concerns were shown by industry representatives at the meeting,” said an official aware of the deliberations.

While efforts to simplify and digitise Know Your Customer (KYC) norms across the fintech segments were mooted, the need to rationalise cost of funds for critical areas, including priority sector loans was also raised.  DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh informed that new patent examiners have been added to reduce the turn-around-time of patent applications. India has over 10,200 fintech entities.

“The Finance Minister noted the rapid growth of the Start-up and Fintech sector of India, especially in the last decade, and welcomed suggestions from the  FinTech leaders to achieve greater Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living for consumers,” an official statement said, noting that issues relating to cybercrime will be suitably addressed in the new Digital India Act.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tables white paper in the Lok Sabha on February 8, 2024. Photo: Sansad TV via ANI

As promised in her Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid a White Paper on the economy in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, outlining that the UPA’s 10 years in office created “an inheritance of loss” for the country and the Narendra Modi-led NDA government “rescued the economy from a state of crisis, despair and paralysis”.

Coming two days before the Seventeenth Lok Sabha is adjourned for the last time, the 47-page paper with a few pages of data annexures, sought to make a case that the present government had rejuvenated the economy from the UPA’s policy stasis and misgovernance to infuse it with “dynamism and growth, and hope in the people”.

The paper attributed the few UPA years of high growth to reforms undertaken by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, and blamed the Manmohan Singh regime not only for being fiscally profligate and opting for “quick fixes” like farm loan waivers, but also for failing to deliver on reforms such as Aadhaar and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Parliament Budget Session | Follow LIVE updates on February 08, 2024

“When the NDA government took over the reins in 2014, the economy was in bad shape, nay, crisis. We faced the hydra-headed challenge of fixing an economy mismanaged for a decade, and restoring its fundamentals to sound health,” the paper noted, listing out improvements in various macro-economic and infrastructure indicators such as inflation, forex reserves and highway building pace.

“Our government refrained from bringing out a White Paper on the poor state of affairs then. That would have given a negative narrative and shaken the confidence of all, including investors,” the paper said. One of the objectives of bringing out this paper now, the Ministry said, was to “generate a wider, more informed debate on the paramountcy of national interest and fiscal responsibility in matters of governance over political expediency”.

“Then, we were among the ‘fragile five’ economies; now, we are among the ‘top five’ economies, making the third highest contribution to global growth every year,” the paper said, stressing that the economic policy focus has been to undo “the damage of the previous decade”.

“Now that we have stabilised the economy and set it on a recovery and growth path, it is necessary to place in the public domain the seemingly insurmountable challenges — left behind as a legacy by the UPA government,” the paper stated.

Foreign exchange crunch

Alleging that the UPA created a foreign exchange crunch that “reeked of a re-run of 1991 when India had to approach the IMF for assistance during a Balance of Payments crisis”, the paper said by the end of September 2013, forex reserves were just enough to finance little over 6 months of imports, down from 17 months at the end of March 2004. As of January 2024, reserves were sufficient for 10.6 months of imports, it said.

While the paper listed out some of the structural reforms undertaken by what it refers to as “our government”, such as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms and GST, it makes no mention of the demonetisation of high-value currency notes in 2016 that was aimed at denting corruption and weeding out black money. However, it does state that “We continue to undertake measures to unearth black money and to discourage recourse to it”.

Alleging “pervasive corruption” under UPA’s watch that had “shaken people’s confidence”, the paper shares the “current status” of 15 “high-profile” “scams”, including the ones pertaining to coal block allocation, 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games, and deals like Aircel-Maxi, Antrix-Devas and INX Media.

Also Read | Union Budget | Indian economy witnessed profound positive transformation in last 10 years, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

While some of those cases are still “under investigation” such as the “Land for Jobs” case in the Railways and the purchase of Hawk Aircraft, the paper is silent on the current status in the procurement corruption allegations pertaining to Augusta Westland Helicopter and Pilatus Basic Trainer Aircraft.

“When our government assumed office, the economy was on a road to nowhere, exhibiting tell-tale signs of deep distress emanating from multiple ‘wrong turns’ in economic policy,” the Ministry emphasised.

The “disconnect between India’s policy planners and priorities for the country was so stark” that the people gave an “overwhelming mandate” in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to the NDA to “take charge of the reins, reverse the staggering economic and fiscal muddle that the country was mired in and restore its dynamism and optimism.”

“Our government, unlike its predecessor, invested in the foundations of the economy along with building a sturdy superstructure. Looking back at the last 10 years, we can say with humility and satisfaction that we have successfully overcome the challenges left behind by the previous government. That said, we are not resting on our laurels. There are miles to go and mountains to scale before we sleep,” the paper concluded.

People watch the live budget speech telecast from Parliament House, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024 on February 01, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 presented her sixth consecutive Budget with a speech lasting 56 minutes, her shortest-ever.

Dressed in a turquoise-coloured embroidered Kantha silk saree, as Ms. Sitharaman delivered her speech, it was lauded at regular intervals by the treasury benches — her remarks on the presentation of the full budget by “our government” in July receiving the loudest cheer.

Union Budget 2024 | Follow live updates here

The opposition members listened to Ms. Sitharaman’s budget speech with rapt attention, barring some voices of disapproval to the Minister’s reference to her government returning to power after the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier, BJP members raised slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai, Jai Shri Ram, Jai Siya Ram as Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the Lok Sabha chamber and took his seat a few minutes before 11:00 a.m.

At 56 minutes, it was Ms. Sitharaman’s shortest budget speech. She also holds the distinction of delivering the longest budget speech at two hours and forty minutes in 2020.

Also Read: Union Budget | Indian economy witnessed profound positive transformation in last 10 years, says Nirmala Sitharaman

In 2019, as India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, Ms. Sitharaman’s budget speech had lasted for two hours and 17 minutes. In 2021, her speech lasted for one hour and 50 minutes, followed by 92 minutes in 2022 and 87 minutes in 2023.

Ms. Sitharaman’s budget speech found no mention of Tamil poets and thinkers unlike previous occasions, but she referred to Prime Minister Modi at least eight times and quoted from his speeches.

The public galleries saw thin attendance with a few Rajya Sabha members occupying seats in Gallery 2, while relatives of Finance Minister Sitharaman — Krishnamurthy Lakshminarayan and Vidya Lakshminarayan — and her daughter Vangmayi Parakala were seated in the first row of Gallery 3.

Ms. Sitharaman, Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad, and top officers from the Finance Ministry called on President Droupadi Murmu before presenting the Budget.

The President gave Ms. Sitharaman a spoonful of curd and sugar and extended her best wishes for the presentation of the Union Budget.

In her budget speech, Ms. Sitharaman coined new expansion of FDI – First, Develop India and for GDP – Governance, Development and Performance.

Also Read: Govt to take up next-generation reforms to facilitate growth: Sitharaman

“Besides delivering on high growth in terms of Gross Domestic Product, the government is equally focused on a more comprehensive ‘GDP’, i.e., ‘Governance, Development and Performance’,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

In 2019, Finance Minister Sitharaman did away with the traditional Budget briefcase and instead went for a ‘bahi-khata’ with the national emblem to carry the speech and other documents on a tablet computer, a tradition she stuck to on February 1.

JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan ‘Lalan’ Singh, whose party re-joined the NDA last week, was seen applauding the budget speech on regular occasions.

The Prime Minister walked up to Ms. Sitharaman at the conclusion of her speech and congratulated her for the presentation of the interim budget.

Several Ministers were also seen congratulating Ms. Sitharaman after her speech.

A man watches FM Nirmala Sitharaman read her Budget speech at an electronic shop in Mumbai, on Feb. 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Government will come out with a White Paper on the mismanagement of economy prior to 2014 with an aim to draw lessons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA came to power in May 2014 after a 10-year rule by Congress-led UPA at the Centre.

“It is now appropriate to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years. The Government will lay a White Paper on table of the House,” she announced while presenting the interim Budget for the next financial year on Feb 1.

She said in 2014 when the Modi Government assumed the reins, the responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. The need of the hour, she said, was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. “The government did that successfully following our strong belief of ‘nation-first’,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Also read: Interim Budget 2024 Live

She further said the crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development.

Ms. Sitharaman began her nearly an hour long Budget speech emphasising that the Indian economy has witnessed profound positive transformation in the last ten years. The people of India are looking ahead to the future with hope and optimism, she said.

“With the blessings of the people, when our Government under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014, the country was facing enormous challenges,” the Minister said.

Ms. Sitharaman, who was presenting her sixth Budget, said that with ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ as its ‘mantra’, the government overcame those challenges in right earnest. Structural reforms were undertaken, pro-people programmes were formulated and implemented promptly, and conditions were created for more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.

“The economy got a new vigour. The fruits of development started reaching the people at scale. The country got a new sense of purpose and hope. Naturally, the people blessed the government with a bigger mandate (2019),” she added.

With the ‘whole of nation’ approach of Sabka Prayas, Ms. Sitharaman said the country overcame the challenge of a once-in-a-century pandemic, took long strides towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, committed to Panch Pran, and laid solid foundations for the Amrit Kaal.

“We expect that our Government, based on its stupendous work, will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate,” the Minister said. The general elections to elect the next Lok Sabha are likely to be held in April-May this year.