Modi trashes interim budget, calls it 'UPA's final act of misery'

Ahmedabad, Feb 18: Bharat Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday tore into the interim budget presented by finance minister P Chidambaram, calling it UPA's "final act of misery.

"The only solace one gets from the vote-on-account is that this was UPA's final act of misery after a decade of decay & policy paralysis", said Modi.

Modi welcomed the 'one rank, one pension' scheme for ex-servicemen. But, he described it as "very late awakening".

"It is upto the people to decide whether the economist prime minister and financial minister have been 'hard working' or 'hardly working' in their tenure", said Modi, taking a jibe at the highly educated ministers.

Chidambaram had once mocked Modi's knowledge of economics by saying that it could be put on a stamp. Modi, in a rally in Tamil Nadu, had hit back by saying that hard work and not education at Harvard is what is needed for running the country.

Replying to Modi, Chidambaram on Monday said that he had learnt the virtue of slog from his mother and at Harvard.

Modi on Tuesday said that Chidambaram did mere 'lip-service'on the issue of black money. "Mere lip-service by the FM on the return of black money; UPA's lack of commitment towards bringing black money was on display yet again!"

"FM says 296 projects worth Rs. 6.6 lakh crore cleared recently. Why were these projects held back at all? Is it not policy paralysis?", Modi asked in a series of tweets.

"Hard working finance minister also joins other illustrious UPA ministers who are seeking refuge in history to judge their performance", Modi said.

"FM eats up plan exp (expenditure), rolls over Rs 35,000 crore subsidies to next year to contain fiscal deficit even as non-plan exp (expenditure) overshoots! Real hard work!", said another tweet from the Gujarat CM.

Oneindia news