Rahul Gandhi has 'zero knowledge' on Indian economy: Himanta

Guwahati, Feb 1 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday termed Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's comment on the Union Budget as "politically motivated" and said he has "zero knowledge" on the country's economy.

Addressing a press conference here, Sarma also slammed the Congress for not increasing the tax exemption limit during the "60 years of rule".

"The Congress should not criticise the Union Budget at all. They should know how much relief they had offered to the middle-class people. After 60 years of rule, they did not give relief of up to even Rs 5 lakh," he said.

Sarma pointed out that the income tax exemption limit reached Rs 3 lakh during the Congress-led government at the Centre.

"FM Nirmala Sitharaman gave relief to all from lower to upper-middle-class segments. She has also allocated more tax devolution to the states. This Budget has something for everyone," he added.

The Narendra Modi government initially increased the tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh, and then to Rs 7 lakh in the subsequent budgets, the CM said.

"Comments from Rahul Gandhi are politically motivated. It shows that Rahul has zero knowledge on the economy of the country," he added.

Sarma also said that Assam will get Rs 44,500 crore in tax devolution from the Centre next fiscal, up from Rs 40,000 crore in the current financial year.

Gandhi slammed the Union Budget as a "band-aid for bullet wounds," saying that the Centre was "bankrupt of ideas".

"A band-aid for bullet wounds! Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift," he said in a post on X.

Sarma also claimed that the Centre will announce around 5-6 policy measures to benefit the northeastern state ahead of the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit, scheduled to take place on February 25-26.

According to the Union Budget for 2025-26 presented by Sitharaman, individuals earning up to Rs 12 lakh in a year will not have to pay any taxes after she raised the exemption threshold from Rs 7 lakh.

An additional Rs 75,000 standard deduction is available for the salaried class.

Presenting her eighth straight budget, Sitharman also altered tax slabs for people earning above this threshold to help save up to Rs 1.1 lakh in taxes for those with income up to Rs 25 lakh in a year. PTI TR TR RG

Source: PTI