Another budget comes to pick the pocket of the common man: Akhilesh Yadav takes swipe at Centre over Union Budget

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India]: Taking swipe at the BJP-led Central government over the Union Budget 2022-23, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said that BJP has presented another budget that "picks the pocket of the common man".

Samajwadi Party chief Yadav tweeted in Hindi, "All the businesses in India have come to a halt... due to historical recession, lakhs of people have lost their jobs... Income of people has reduced... Because of the pandemic, savings in banks have come down... Now, another budget comes to pick the pocket of the common man... With this, the sad era of BJP is beginning to end! Now UP people say that they don't want BJP anymore." Yadav's remarks came ahead of the Assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Budget 2022-23 which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament.

The meeting began at around 10:20 am ahead of the Budget presentation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Railways, Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, and others were present at the Parliament for the Union Cabinet Meeting ahead of the Budget presentation.

Earlier today, Sitharaman met President Ram Nath Kovind ahead of the Budget presentation. She was accompanied by Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Bhagwat Karad and other officials from the Ministry.

Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, replacing her signature 'bahi khata', she opted to carry the documents in a tablet, which was wrapped in a red-coloured cover with the national emblem emblazoned on it.

On Monday, she tabled this year's Economic Survey, centred around the theme of "Agile approach", which forecasted India's economy to grow by 9.2 per cent during Financial Year 2021-22 and by 8-8.5 per cent in fiscal 2023 beginning 1 April.

The Budget Session of the Parliament commenced on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind's address. The first part of the Union Budget Session of Parliament will be held from January 31 to February 11 and the second part of the Budget Session will take place from March 14 to April 8. (ANI)