BJP Allies Hit Out at Union Budget, Term it 'Disappointing', 'Tailored for Elections'

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party's close allies slammed the budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.

Allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Shiv Sena claimed that the budget was "disappointing" and "tailored just for upcoming elections."

Sources close to TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu say he is his unhappy with the budget and has asked party MPs in Delhi to escalate the issue.

"We are disappointed with the Union Budget presented today," said TDP leader and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary.

Chowdary also added that "many pressing state issues with railways, Polavaram project funding, funding for capital Amaravati and other pending issues of AP were not addressed in the budget".

He added that Chandrababu Naidu will hold a meeting in Amaravati this Sunday to discuss these issues.

Ram Mohan Naidu said, TDP MP from Srikakulam, said, "Andhra Pradesh as a result of an unscientific bifurcation has been facing several issues. Our Chief Minister has come to Delhi so many times and had been meeting ministers and the Prime Minister representing our state's issues. Not once has Arun Jaitley taken the name of Andhra Pradesh in his two-hour long speech. The people of Andhra Pradesh are expressing lot of discontent with the central government."

Sanjay Raut, leader of another BJP ally and NDA member Shiv Sena, said that the budget presented by Jaitley was tailored for elections, and was an eye-wash as far as farmers were concerned.

"Budget shouldn't be for voters but for public. It shouldn't be tailored to win elections but to take the country forward. There is nothing new in the announcements that have been made by Jaitley in his budget speech. We have been seeing such announcements made several times in last 60 years."

He also said that as far as the issue of farm distress was concerned, which BJP tried to target in its budget, "I saw a question mark on the face of MPs. People seemed to be asking "What is this budget". Let's see what this budget actually gives to the farmers and the middle class."

Some regional allies like Jagan Reddy led Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) called it a budget for the farmers. He said that measures like giving 1.5 times the price to farmers would go a long way to provide succour to the country's farmers.