Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Shashi Tharoor reacted sharply to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2024, accusing her of borrowing ideas from the Congress party's election manifesto. Chidambaram and Tharoor highlighted similarities between Sitharaman's budgetary announcements and proposals outlined in the Congress manifesto. Despite these allegations, both leaders expressed satisfaction with Sitharaman's decision to abolish the angel tax, a move aimed at benefiting investors and startups.
Underwhelming Budget Critique
Shashi Tharoor characterised the budget as "underwhelming," criticising its purported neglect of pressing issues affecting the common man. In particular, he pointed out the absence of significant mentions regarding MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and insufficient steps to alleviate income disparities. Tharoor also lamented what he described as token measures towards job creation, implying a lack of substantive action in addressing employment challenges.
P Chidambaram, while pleased with its abolition, Chidambaram pointed out that this measure had long been advocated by the Congress party, emphasizing its inclusion in their recent manifesto. He expressed satisfaction that Sitharaman had seemingly adopted several proposals from the Congress manifesto post-election, including an Employment-linked Incentive (ELI) and an Apprenticeship scheme.
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Netizens React
After the criticism drawn towards abolishing the Angel Tax policy by P Chidambaram, People are thrashing Chidambaram for introducing the policy in first place during the UPA government's regime.
Fact Check
The Finance Act of 2012 allowed for the introduction and implementation of the Angel Tax. The nation's Finance Minister at the time was the late President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
Prior to the Budget for the 2023–24 fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024), the angel tax was exclusively applicable to domestic investors and expanded to include foreign investments as well. However, the Angel Tax policy has been abolished.
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