CHANDIGARH, March 14: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today said, the budget presented in the Punjab assembly by the Finance Minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur was actually a non budget and the government has only tried to showcase the development being carried out entirely with the central funds, without any of its own contribution.In his initial response to the budget speech of the FM, Capt Amarinder Singh also exploded the myth of it being a tax free budget as the same day (of presenting the budget) the government circulated the draft of a tax bill which was to be discussed and passed tomorrow in the state legislature.
The PCC President said, while he was yet to study the budget document comprehensively, but the initial impression gathered from the annual financial statement only leads to the belief that it is the most pathetic budget Punjab has ever seen. He said, he will be making a statement on the budget in the state legislature itself.
He said, since this is going to be the last budget of this government, whatever negligible relief it has tried to provide has been done purely with an eye on the assembly elections scheduled to be held within less than a year. In the process, Capt Amarinder maintained, the government in an attempt to befool the people of Punjab has made a fool of itself.