Hardeep Puri counters Cong's plagiarism charge on Budget, slams its 'vaguely worded' manifesto

New Delhi: Union Minister for Petroleum and Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday came down heavily on the Congress for levelling 'plagiarism' charges on the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

He also lashed out at the grand old party for indulging in 'fakery' and leaving behind a 'legacy of laggardness and backwardness', that is still being 'cleaned up' after seven decades of Independence.

The Union Minister said this while responding to Congress' claims that the employment schemes proposed in the Union Budget 2024-25 was copied from employment-linked incentive programme, as proposed in its poll manifesto.

"Some Congress members latched on phrase 'employment-linked incentive', claiming that it has been borrowed from party's Nyay Patra. They must know that its proposal was a vaguely worded statement of employment linked incentives for corporates to avail tax credits against additional employment," the Union Minister said on X.

However, the NDA government's proposal is carefully carved and driven by delivery, he added.

Notably, top Congress leadership including former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, soon after Budget presentation, claimed that the employee-linked incentive scheme was inspired from party's poll manifesto (Nyay Patra) and that it was not a progressive but 'sarkar bachaao' Budget.

To buttress his claims, the Union Minister also cited example of Congress' popular 'Garibi Hatao' slogans and said the real poverty alleviation was taking place under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

"The Congress can only claim credit for creating and perpetuating the problems we are now trying to solve, i.e. keeping our citizens poor and without access to basic employment and skills for over 65 years," the Union Minister said in a pointed jibe.

Shedding light on the nitty-gritty of employment schemes in Budget 2024-25, Hardeep Puri said: "The NDA government has proposed an extensive incentive framework funded a government outlay and linked to enrollment and continued contribution to the EPFO, from first-time employees (Scheme 1) to the labour-intensive manufacturing industry (Scheme 2) to additional employment in all sectors (Scheme 3).

"Just the scope of Scheme 3 alone dwarfs what the Congress had proposed in its so-called Nyay Patra. More pertinently, these three schemes are backed by a comprehensive skilling programme where 20 lakh youth will be provided outcome-oriented skill training over five years, in alignment with industry needs. Over 4.1 crore jobs will be generated over the next 5 years & Rs 2 lakh crore will be spent on employment, education & skilling," he further pointed out.

Further, drawing a comparison between Congress' 'dispirited' and NDA's 'delivery driven' approach, he said that the Congress is known for the trifecta of corruption, dynastic politics, and failing to deliver on its promises while the BJP-led government maintains an enviable track record of delivery, as demonstrated in the slew of welfare delivery schemes.