Opposition parties criticised the Narendra Modi government’s first full-year budget on Saturday, saying it was pro-industrialist and failed to take care of the common man’s interests. 

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Finance minister Arun Jaitley attempted to juggle welfare spending with high economic growth and infrastructure development but could not win over the Congress that called the budget “hollow and plain”.
 
“The budget is only for big corporates and industries. It is not a pro-poor budget,” said, Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. “This budget is a repayment by the BJP government to the rich and corporates who had supported them during Lok Sabha polls. The budget is all about promises.”
 
Former environment minister and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh described the budget as a “dhan wapsi” programme, punning on the “ghar wapsi”, or religious conversion, campaign being run by some Hindu groups.
 
“You (BJP) had taken (money) in elections. You are paying back,” he said.
 
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, from the National Conference, questioned the government’s move to pump in more funds into the UPA-era MNREGA, a rural employment guarantee programme, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the scheme was a proof of the Congress’ failure.
 
“I don't get it, if #MNREGA is a monument to failure why is more money being pumped into it? Something doesn't add up here. #Budget2015?” he tweeted.
 
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the budget was aimed at helping industrialists. “It has been made keeping in mind only the rich and big capitalists. It is not in the interests of common man,” she said.
 
Giving the budget a measly 2 out of 10, BJD’s Leader in the Lok Sabha, B Mahtab, said it was very disappointing as it did not do much for the farmers. However, he was contradicted by party colleague Jay Panda, who termed the budget as “big bang”, which will “encourage the economy and boost the prospects of industry and manufacturing”.
 
West Bengal finance minister and Trinamool leader Amit Mitra said Jaitley made a big public display of giving more resources to the states with one hand, but concealed the other hand that took away a lot.

“Allocations to most of the central-sponsored schemes that are targeted towards the poor have been drastically reduced,” he said in Kolkata.