
Hailing the Budget 2025 announcements, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said that the middle class is confident and determined to drive India's journey towards development. He was speaking in response to the discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
"...25 crore people of the country have moved out of poverty and become part of the neo-middle class. Today, their aspirations are the strongest foundation for the nation's progress... We want to strengthen the middle class and the neo-middle class. In this Budget, we have made no tax on income up to Rs 12 lakh," PM Modi said in reference to the ease of tax slabs and raising the tax-free income threshold under Section 87A from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 12 lakh from the upcoming financial year.
"The people of the nation have tested, understood and supported our model of development. Our model of development is 'nation first'... Today, the world recognises India's economic potential," Modi told the Upper House.
"The amount of work done during our tenure to empower the poor has never been done before... The journey from being a developing to a developed nation passes through infrastructure; we have emphasised on infra development," he added.
The Prime Minister also attacked the Congress on the imposition of Emergency saying the grand old party prepared such a model of politics in which there was a blend of lies, fraud, corruption, nepotism and appeasement. "Where there is a blend of all these things, there can be no 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'. The supreme in Congress' model is 'family first', and that is why their policies, their tone has been involved in managing that...." he said.
"This country has also seen the period of Emergency and how the spirit of the Constitution was crushed. It was done for the sake of power. The country knows this," he said, adding, "... The image of Hindus was tarnished due to wrong policies of Congress as slow GDP growth was termed as 'Hindu rate of growth', says PM.
Further, he also broached the contentious topic of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). "Today, we are moving forward by respecting and taking inspiration from the makers of our Constitution. Some people must be thinking of what this UCC is. Those who will read about the Constitution debate will get to know the truth," he said.
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