Budget 2019: Rs 17 per day to farmers is an insult, says Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on February 1 attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for announcing annual income support of Rs 6,000 for small and medium farmers.

In a tweet, Gandhi said that giving Rs 17 per day to farmers is "an insult to everything that they stand for".

Dear NoMo,

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5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers.

Giving them Rs. 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for. #AakhriJumlaBudget

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 1, 2019

Goyal said the scheme will be rolled out starting December 1, 2018 and that the amount will be transferred directly into the banks of beneficiary farmers in three installments of Rs 2,000 each. This means, the first installment is likely to reach the beneficiaries before the Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi's sentiment was reiterated by other Opposition leaders who called these sops "election jumlas". All India Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the Interim Budget as the BJP's desperation.

Congress Member of Parliament (MP) from Thiruvanathapuram, Shashi Tharoor told reporters: "The whole exercise has turned out to be a damp squib. We have seen one good thing that is tax exemption for the middle class. Rs 6,000 in income support for farmers boils down to Rs 500 per month. Is that supposed to enable them to live with the honour and dignity?"

Meanwhile, the Congress party continued to counter the ruling BJP's claims made in the Budget speech, on social media, with the hashtag '#AakhriJumlaBudget'.