Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami lauds Modi govt's Budget, but not all in AIADMK

In contrast to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami's statement hailing the Interim Budget a visionary one, senior AIADMK leader and Deputy Lok Sabha Speaker M Thambidurai on Saturday alleged that the Budget presented by the BJP government in the last five years ignored Tamil Nadu and dubbed this year's budget as the saffron party's election manifesto.

Thambidurai said the purpose of Interim Budgets essentially is to provide for the salaries of the government employees for the period before elections.

"They have presented five Budgets and hence they have no right to present the sixth one. These announcements should have been made earlier. This reduction of tax for people earning up to Rs 5 lakh, why didn't they do it in the previous five Budgets? Similarly, they've announced Rs 6,000 per year for farmers. Why didn't they announce this earlier?" he asked.

"The last five budgets presented by the BJP government did not stimulate growth and development of the people," Thambidurai told reporters at Thiruvarur.

On Friday, Palaniswami welcomed the budget saying, "I congratulate the Finance Minister for presenting a visionary (interim) budget with 10 special aspects to carry forward India to 2030. I welcome the announcement to ensure income of Rs 6,000 per year to farmers. It would bring cheer to farmers' life. It is a welcome move to establish a separate fisheries department in order to protect the welfare of the fishermen."