New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the government is busy garnering praises for the Union Budget when the entire country is struggling with problems of inflation and unemployment, and asserted that the Budget is an attempt to "dupe" the people.

He said the Budget is aptly described by the Hindi proverb 'Nau sau choohe khake billi hajj ko chali' (roughly translated to seeking to be pious after committing a number of sins).

In a post on X in Hindi, Kharge said that in the last 10 years, the Narendra Modi government has collected Rs 54.18 lakh crore of income tax from the middle class, and now the exemption is being given to those earning up to Rs 12 lakh.

The finance minister has herself stated that there will be a saving of Rs 80,000 per year, Kharge said and pointed out that is only Rs 6,666 per month.

"The whole country is struggling with the problem of inflation and unemployment, but the Modi government is bent on garnering false praises," he said.

In this 'announcement-making' budget, Make in India has been changed to National Manufacturing Mission to hide its flaws, Kharge said.

"All other announcements are almost like this. There is nothing for the youth. Modi ji had promised yesterday that he would take a big step for the empowerment of women in this budget, but nothing like that happened in the budget," he said.

No roadmap to double farmers' income and no concession in GST rates on agricultural inputs, Kharge said.

"There is no plan for health, education or scholarship for Dalit, tribal, backward class, poor and minority children. There are no reform measures to increase private investment. Their failures have been hidden by saying a few superficial things on export and tariff," he said.

Kharge said that nothing has been done to increase the income of the poor and not a single step has been taken to address the continuously falling consumption.

"Despite skyrocketing inflation, the budget of MGNREGA remains the same. Nothing has been done to increase the income of workers. There is no mention of any reform in the Multiple Rates of GST. To reduce unemployment, there was no talk of creating jobs," he said.

Startup India, Standup India and Skill India, all the schemes, have turned out to be mere announcements, he said.

"Overall this Budget 2025 is an attempt by the Modi Government to dupe the people," the Congress chief said. PTI ASK ZMN

Budget duping: criticised for offering cosmetic announcements while failing to tackle inflation, unemployment and social welfare gaps. The Budget is characterised as a presentation that substitutes announcements and rebranding for substantive measures, offering inadequate tax relief while failing to tackle inflation, unemployment and declining consumption. Specific policy gaps noted include absence of a roadmap to double farmers' incomes, no GST concessions on agricultural inputs, unchanged MGNREGA funding despite inflation, lack of reforms to spur private investment or job creation, and no targeted health, education or scholarship measures for marginalized groups; flagship schemes are described as unimplemented announcements.