"Budget is about staying in power": DMK hits out at BJP over Union Budget 2025

Emphasising that the budget was focused on Bihar due to the upcoming assembly election in the state, he told ANI, "This budget is about staying in power. BJP is a minority government. They are at the mercy of Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, so they have to appease them. Plus, Bihar is about to have elections."

Annadurai further mentioned that "best performing" states like Tamil Nadu did not get adequate attention in the budget and criticised the government's "short-sighted views."

"When no special efforts are made for a best-performing state like Tamil Nadu, which provides funds for states like Bihar and UP, it shows their (the government's) short-sighted views," the DMK spokesperson said.

He claimed that another reason Tamil Nadu does not get adequate space in the budget is that the BJP does not find any political capital in the state.

"They want to paint the entire budget around one announcement which is income tax relief up to an income of Rs 12 lakh... Even if it's going to help people, it's only going to help a minuscule minority. This relief is aimed at Delhi elections because most of the beneficiaries reside in New Delhi," Annadurai told ANI.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, have slammed the budget too, saying that it was silent on the problem of unemployment and accused the government of "throttling MGNREGA."

In the Union Budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman provided major relief to the salaried class with no income tax on an average monthly income of up to Rs one lakh to boost household savings and consumption with the government also giving thrust to four engines of development - agriculture, MSMEs, investment and exports.

The Finance Minister stated that the fiscal deficit for FY-25 is estimated to end at 4.8 per cent, with a target to reduce it to 4.4 per cent in FY-26. (ANI)