TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Soon after the interim budget was presented in the Parliament on Friday by the Railways Minister and the additional in-charge of Finance Ministry, Piyush Goyal, standing in for Arun Jaitley who was undergoing medical treatment in the US – reactions from the Congress have started coming in swiftly, Congress President Rahul Gandhi attacked the the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, saying giving farmers Rs 17 a day is an insult.
Making a strong re-election pitch, the BJP-led NDA government Friday announced the biggest income tax sops for middle class, including complete exemption for income up to Rs 5 lakh, and Rs 6,000 annual cash dole to poor farmers in a scheme that will cost Rs 75,000 crore per year.
Converting a vote on account speech into an almost full-fledged budget announcement in Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal proposed an array of incentives for both middle class and farmers, whose disenchantment was said to have cost the BJP dearly in recent assembly elections.
