"Hawa Hawai budget...": LoP Atishi slams Delhi govt for not presenting economic survey

New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): Aam Aadmi Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, on Friday raised concerns over economic projections in the absence of a pre-Budget economic survey and said that the Delhi government budget is "hawa hawai.""Delhi's BJP government does not have and cannot have an income of Rs one lakh crore...When the Economic Survey was not tabled in the House the day prior to the Budget presentation, we thought the BJP government is hiding something. The BJP broke the 70-year-old parliamentary tradition and did not present the Economic Survey. Till now, the BJP used to make false promises, but now it has started making false promises on the budget as well. It is a hawa hawai budget," Atishi said, addressing a press conference in the national capital.She further said that the estimated tax revenue figure itself is completely "fake.""When this figure of Rs 68,700 crore came to the fore, I understood why the Economic Survey was not tabled. It is because then they would not have been able to put forward this baseless figure of inflated higher tax revenue in its Budget. To date, Arvind Kejriwal has run a profitable government in Delhi, the only fiscal surplus government. But the first budget of the first BJP government is in deficit of 13 thousand crores," Atishi said. On March 27, during the discussion, LoP Atishi congratulated the Chief Minister on the Budget and her remarks on Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. She said: "There is Ali in Diwali and Ram in Ramzan."However, the leader argued that the Budget demonstrated why the ruling BJP was often called a "party of slogans," highlighting that the financial plan was presented without an economic survey."The GDP growth projection for the entire country is 6.5 per cent, so I fail to understand how Delhi's tax collection projection exceeds 20 per cent," she said. The Opposition also cited an instance from Uttar Pradesh, where the Assembly Speaker had ruled that a Budget could not be tabled without an economic survey.The leader further claimed that Delhi was unlikely to achieve its estimated revenue of Rs 15,000 crore in tax collections or receive Rs 7,000 crore from the Central government. He estimated the actual Budget size at Rs 78,000 crore, stating, "Let the air out of the balloon of one lakh crore."Earlier on March 25, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta presented the budget as a "historic" step towards transforming Delhi into an investment and innovation-friendly city.With a total allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore, this budget is expected to drive growth, development, and improvement in the quality of life for Delhi's residents.The budget has seen a significant rise of 31.58 per cent from the previous year, with a total allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for various sectors, including education, transport, and urban development. (ANI)