Last Updated: February 10, 2023, 16:31 IST
Sitharaman said the Budget 2023-24 astutely balances the requirement for India’s development imperatives within the limit of fiscal prudence. (Photo: ANI)
The finance minister’s remarks came after she said that Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh increased Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel after coming to power last year
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday took a jibe at Congress when some Members of Parliament from the grand-old-party raised corruption allegations on the Centre.
Speaking during the general discussion in Lok Sabha on Budget 2023-24, Sitharaman said, “Arre Corruption ke upar aap, Dettol se muh saaf kardo bhaiya. Congresswale. Corruption ke upar aap, Corruption ke upar aap aap baat kar rahe ho. (You will speak on corruption, clean your mouth with Dettol first. You will speak on corruption, what are you saying?)
The finance minister’s remarks came after she said that Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh increased Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel after coming to power last year. “You increased VAT on diesel in Himachal Pradesh. This is the culture of Congress. They will level allegations, walk out from the house but will not listen,” she said.
“Punjab has increased VAT on petrol and diesel in February 2023, which will lead to an increase in the price of approximately Rs 95/litre,” she added.
When a ruling MP requested the minister to speak on Rajasthan, Sitharaman said, “Rajasthan mein gadbad hai bhaiya, pichle saal ka budget iss saal padh rahe hain. Mistakes can happen to anyone, but I pray to God that such a situation should not arise in front of anyone that someone has to read previous year’s budget, she added.
In what looked like a major goof-up, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday “mistakenly” read out excerpts of the last budget instead of Budget 2023-24. Later, however, Gehlot accepted the matter and said he has realised his mistake and that only the first page of the budget was wrong”.
Sitharaman also said the Budget 2023-24 astutely balances the requirement for India’s development imperatives within the limit of fiscal prudence. “In simple words, budget 2023-24, astutely balances the requirement for India’s development imperatives within the limit of fiscal prudence. That is a very difficult balance, it is a very delicately balanced tact,” she said.
If I can put in a few words the essence of budget 2023-24- it balances the requirement for India’s development imperatives within the limits of fiscal prudence, she added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched scathing attacks on Congress in Parliament and referred to the ten years of the UPA government as a “decade of scams, the lost decade”.
PM Modi said that inflation remained in double digits, and scams like 2G, the Commonwealth Games and a number of terror attacks took place across the country in ten years of the UPA regime.
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