Congress attacks the Center before the Union budget over unemployment and inflation.

New Delhi: Ahead of the July 23 presentation of the Union budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Congress party launched an attack on the central government on Friday. The targets of the attack included trade imbalance, unemployment, inflation, economic inequality, consumption, and foreign direct investment. 

Supriya Shrinate, a spokesperson for the Congress, described the budget as a "ruined economic landscape" and claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not connected to the "real India." "This detachment would be reflected in the budget, benefiting only a chosen few," she stated.  

Mallikarjun Kharge, the head of the party, wrote on X, "You are rubbing salt in the wounds of the Youth by telling one lie after another on Jobs!" in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then, pointing to data disparities between the Reserve Bank of India and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the senior lawmaker raised three questions.

According to Shrinate, India's economic disparity is greater now than it was during British rule. "Now, 40.10% of India's wealth is owned by the richest 1% of the population, while the bottom 50% owns only 6.40% of the nation's wealth," the speaker asserted. 

She took aim at the Center due to inflation and the decline in the average person's income. There is an increase in inflation and a decline in people's income levels. Falling income and rising prices are affecting nearly 48% of families in this country, making them more reliant on savings for survival. 

The leader of the Congress stated that food inflation has routinely surpassed the 9% threshold. The nation's poor and middle class have truly suffered from high costs and rising inflation. People in this nation actually have to spend more these days for a variety of necessities including clothing, food, and transportation," she remarked.

Shrinate stated, "Joblessness should be one of the most important matters to be addressed in this year's budget," laying out important economic guidelines. Along with the loss of 270,000 central PSU employment, demonetisation, GST, and Covid resulted in the loss of 10.6 million jobs in the unorganized sector. She also stated that, as of 2022, 43% of workers are contract workers, up from 13% in 2013.