July 29, 2024
Saket Gokhale’s speech in Rajya Sabha on the Union Budget for 2024-25
Sir, we had 17 minutes left for our Party. Thank you, Sir. The Union Budget presented by the hon. Finance Minister reminds me of an old quote by Benjamin Franklin. He said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” It also interestingly echoes, especially with the Budget presented by the hon. Finance Minister, what Terry Pratchett added to Franklin’s quote, when he said, and I am going to add a little bit of creative liberty here and say that the Finance Minister’s taxes are worse because death kills you only once in your life, but these taxes kill you every year. Centuries ago, when America fought for its independence from Britain, their founding fathers had proclaimed, “no taxation without representation”. The idea of Government taking money without giving the people adequate representation, without giving a voice to the people, without people getting their share of the taxes that they are paying to the Government, has always been considered a very abhorrent colonial idea. Sadly, after listening to the hon. Finance Minister’s Budget Speech, the people of West Bengal, where I come from, and several other Opposition States, have found that they have no representation or even a mention in how they will get their rightful share of money from the taxes that they all pay to the Union Government. This Budget goes against the foundational ideas of cooperative federalism. Forget cooperative, it goes against the foundational ideas of federalism of any form. This Budget brutally taxes the multitude of hard working Indian citizens while giving favours to a select few. What is sad is that the Union Government in this Budget takes money from all the 28 States of the Union but 26 States have got nothing in this Budget. This Budget also insults the collective intelligence of this august House because the hon. Minister did two things in the Budget speech. She gave statements that paint a brazenly false and rosy image of a completely damaged economy. She made promises that — going by this Government’s track record — she has absolutely no intention of fulfilling. This Union Budget is a clear and shameful case of taxation without representation. I recently met a young professional who is 30 years old. Going by the 2011 Census, she belongs to an age group, the youth, which represents about 65 per cent of the India’s population. Actually, it might be more but this Government has not conducted the Census which was supposed to be done in 2011. Right now, we are in 2024. So, if we have the new Census, maybe, we would know that the youth represents even a bigger chunk of India’s population. Sir, this person’s grocery bill has spiked up drastically. Thanks to the Modi Government’s inability to control the food prices, the food inflation is at a whopping 9.4 per cent. Then, like many other professionals living in different cities in India, she has to pay her medical insurance premium every year. What kind of travesty is it that this Government charges 18 per cent GST on insurance premium? For giving the public the basic right of health care, you are charging 18 per cent of GST on the insurance premium. The infrastructure in Mumbai, where she lives, where I also originally come from, is falling apart. For the longest time, she commuted to her workplace by using Mumbai’s local trains, which have not changed since 1970s. One day, she saw fellow passenger fall out of the train, the moving local train. Thanks to the hard work of our social media savvy and reel-making Rail Mantri, on an average, seven people die every day on the tracks of Mumbai locals, the financial capital of India. But what has this Budget given to this young girl? The hefty taxes that she pays will go towards a special package for people residing in a completely different place, a place that she has never visited in her entire life. She has no roads in her own city but her taxes will go as a special package for building roads in another State. Why? The only reason is that her taxes are required to save the minority Government of Narendra Modi, which is completely reliant on two allies of a creaky coalition, and, to keep it afloat. Sir, how many must die so that Caesar may remain king? This Budget is an example of that. You tax somebody so that your allies are happy and your Government manages to survive for a few more months. But this young lady has no voice. In fact, things are so bad that the Government makes her feel lucky that she is privileged to pay tax. If you look at the recent ILO’s Report, around 85 per cent of India’s unemployed are youth. Forget about paying taxes, she has made you feel lucky that, at least, she has a job from which she can pay taxes. It is not her voice alone that is being suppressed. Today morning, when I came to the Parliament, I was very, very disturbed to see that the media outside has been pushed to a container. It reminds me of the Black Hole tragedy of 1776 where media is being taken outside Parliament, put into a container and suffocated from everything. Why? It is because, apparently now, the Government has a problem with media talking to the Opposition as well. Forget voices of MPs in Parliament, now the media has been suffocated and they are not being given a voice. It is absolutely deplorable. Sir, an average employee is a middle class person. I will just tell you a reality because I have been listening to a lot of speeches. Nobody talks about the middle class of India. It is quite sad. The middle class of India is the backbone, but nobody talks about them. Today, the middle class is paying about 70 per cent of their salary on basics, like rent, groceries, EMIs, medical expenses. [‑ ô , you are increasing their taxes every year. Where is an average middle class professional of this country supposed to go? This five-trillion economy is only going to happen when the employed people of this country take the country further. You are punishing the middle class. You are punishing them with increasing taxes every year. Now, the Finance Minister has also decided to go after people’s meagre savings. For whatever a middle class professional manages to save and invest, the taxman is now going to knock his door to extract another pound of flesh, by way of short term and long term capital gain taxes. This Union Budget exploits the poor and rewards the rich. What is the middle class getting out of the Budget? Absolutely nothing! This Union Budget taxes the middle class but gives them no representation. I am talking about 45 crore people of India. That constitutes the middle class. This is taxation without representation. Sir, there is something interesting that I would like the Finance Minister to address in her speech whenever she responds. The Government of India has a definition for the economically weaker sections. Economically weaker sections in India are individuals or families with an annual income of rupees eight lakh or less. This is economically weaker section. But, in the new tax regime, On one side you are saying that they are the economically weaker sections and on the other side you are imposing 10 per cent income tax on them. So, this Government needs to make its mind a little clear. Are they economically weaker section? Or, are they rich enough that you can tax them with 10 per cent under the new income tax regime? This sort of Schizophrenia makes no sense? Sir, I want to talk about a very touchy and interesting topic for this Government, which is the subject of religious minorities. Religious minorities constitute 20 per cent of India’s population. This includes not just Muslims, but Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Parsis and other smaller religious denominations. We saw the concern of the hon. Prime Minister for the minorities during the Lok Sabha elections. Why did he say that? He said it only to express his immense frustration at the fact that the Mamata Banerjee-led Government practices pluralism and ensures the welfare of both the majority and the minority in West Bengal. A peaceful and harmonious West Bengal bothers Prime Minister Modi because the people of my State… The people of my State have constantly rejected the BJP. Sir, in this Union Budget, how much is the allocation for minority welfare? Is it 1 per cent? No! Is it 0.1 per cent? No! It is 0.07 per cent of the total Government outlay. So, what is pathetic and shameful is the Prime Minister talks about ‘sabka sath sabka vikas’. Twenty per cent of the population of India has a Budget outlay of 0.07 per cent. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, MNREGA, was introduced by the UPA Government to provide guaranteed employment to scores of Indians who live in abject poverty. The success of MNREGA was seen by the entire world during the devastating Covid pandemic when this was the only scheme which provided a little bit of a safety net to the poor after P.M. Modi announced his harebrained lockdown. As I said earlier, Sir, unemployment in India is at all time high. Outside of the cities, the unemployed Indians living in rural areas, have virtually no opportunities of securing employment. The MNREGA scheme was meant basically for them. But what has the Government done in this Union Budget? What have the poor people of India received from a seven-budget-old Finance Minister? MGNREGA outlay has not been changed at all this year. MGNREGA outlay continues to be the same despite unemployment rising and despite people in abject need of. It is pretty much almost the same. Because we are the Council of States, let me talk about what is happening with the States in India. Sir, the States constitute the Union of India together. The bedrock of our democracy is meant to be cooperative federalism which respects the voices of States and provides them with opportunities for development. Several hon. Members of Parliament have mentioned the fact that the Finance Minister chose to highlight only Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in her Budget speech. This is understandable. It was in this very House in January when the Prime Minister arrogantly declared that the BJP would go 400 paar. All my colleagues sitting on that side of the House not only cheered but gave a thumping ovation. What happened in the Lok Sabha election? They got thumped by the people of India. If it were not for these two allies in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, they would be sitting here and we would be sitting there. It is understandable. Let me say this clearly. We are happy for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. We have no problem if they get some money. We have absolutely no problem. What is unacceptable is: why do 26 States have to be deprived at the cost of two? Give it to Bihar. Give it to Andhra Pradesh. What about the remaining 26 States? Some of these States have also given BJP 100 per cent MPs. Even these States have been ignored. Forget the Opposition-ruled States. My State of West Bengal by the way is subject to special discrimination and deprivation in the Union Budget because the people in my State have been since 2021 rejecting the BJP soundly in every election. In her Budget speech, the Finance Minister announced flood relief for five States. They are: Bihar, Assam, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. If anyone looks at the map, Bengal has not been mentioned. Every State has been mentioned. All five of them, except Bengal. What is even more shocking is that Bengal has been reeling under devastating floods and the part of Bengal that has been reeling under devastating floods is the part which actually gave BJP the handful of MPs. It is North Bengal. Despite that, the Finance Minister makes no mention of Bengal when it comes to flood relief. West Bengal like every other State of the Union pays taxes. People who work in Bengal, live in Bengal, Why doesn’t Bengal get anything? Over 1.6 lakh crore of our dues are still being withheld by the Union Government. My leader, Mr. Abhishek Banerjee, had challenged them during the elections to present a White Paper showing since 2021 when the BJP lost in the Assembly elections if a single naya paisa has been given under MGNREGA and Aawas Yojana to Bengal. In her speech maybe, if the Finance Minister thinks what she is doing is right, she should take up the challenge given by Mr. Abhishek Banerjee and provide a White Paper on whether we have received a single naya paisa since 2021. Sir, just two days ago, my Chief Minister… Hon. Chief Minister of West Bengal, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, a seven-time MP, former Union Minister, third time Chief Minister of West Bengal, she was the only Opposition Chief Minister who in good faith came to attend NITI Aayog meeting. She went there in good faith. She flew all the way down to Delhi. She went there in good faith. What happened there, Sir? Pathetic. She was given five minutes to speak. At the end of those five minutes, her mike was switched off. One Opposition CM who attended that meeting out of good faith, her mike was switched off after five minutes. She walked out of the meeting. She gave them a chance. Let me say this. Let me put it on record. This colonial Modi Government subjects West Bengal to taxation without representation. Our people contribute to the Union. Our people contribute our share. But when it comes to getting our rightful share of that money, cat gets their tongue. Not a single penny to West Bengal. On what grounds, Sir? They said that job cards were found to be fake. The MGNREGA website shows that 99.7 per cent of the cards are verified. On what grounds our funds have been withheld? Because we refused to use the name ‘PM’ in a scheme where 40 per cent funds are being paid by the State. Why our funds have been withheld? Because there is a certain colour, which represents their party, and we refuse to paint our walls with that colour. Now, there is one more devious trick that this Government uses, which the people of India should know. Twenty-three per cent of the Union Government’s revenues in this Budget come from cess and surcharge. Cesses and surcharges are non devolved parts of taxes which means that not a single penny out of these goes to the States. This money goes entirely to the Union Government. So, what was the point of bringing forward GST? This Government proudly at midnight said that there will be one nation, one tax. One nation, one tax was to get rid of surcharges, cess and such other extra taxes which are imposed. But what have we been seeing over the last five years? Swachch Bharat cess, health cess, social welfare cess, etc. are being used just to steal money from the people without having to give a single penny out of that to the States. What bothers me is this. A lot of people whom I know from the middle class — I am talking about cities — paid for their own covid vaccines. Why is the photo of Prime Minister printed on my vaccine certificate? Taxes paid by people of all 28 States enable the Government to give free ration. Has Mr. Modi sold off his LIC policies to pay for this ration? Is this money coming out of his pocket? Sir, I am just concluding. Just give me 30 seconds to conclude. I want to congratulate the hon. Finance Minister, in all due supportiveness, for presenting the seventh consecutive Union Budget. But let me also state from this House on the record that this Government is not going to last with its policy of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I also wish today to extend my farewell to the hon. Finance Minister because I know for a fact that next year she will not be presenting the Budget of a Government led by Mr. Narendra Modi. Thank you, Sir.
