Capital outlays to four states in budget made with an eye on assembly polls: Kharge

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that capital outlays for Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam in union budget have been done with an eye on assembly polls in these states.

"It is good that the states are being provided the money for development but doing this only for the purpose of elections is wrong," Kharge said.

Apart from the four states, Puducherry is also expected to go to the polls in April-May.

He said the budget has not provided relief to the poor, farmers and the common man who suffered due to COVID-19 situation.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the government's track record of economic performance does not inspire confidence.

"Finance Minister asks us to have faith, but faith has to be built on a track record and the track record, unfortunately, does not justify us feeling much faith," Tharoor told .

"We have seen a lot of talks, when will we see action and results?" he asked.

He, however, said that there are higher allocations for health and added that the government has "bitten the bullet" on fiscal deficit "as earlier their numbers were quite unrealistic". The budget for 2021-22 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.

( With inputs from ANI )