Modi faces middle class ire over budget

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, smarting from setbacks in the April-June general election, is now being berated for last week's budget by the country's swing voters, the middle class, putting his party on the defensive ahead of polls in three states and federal territory.

The budget raised taxes on gains from retail investments in financial markets, left income tax rates untouched despite talk there would be relief and removed some real estate tax benefits, leading to outrage among the middle class, which makes up about 30 percent of India's 1.42 billion people.

Graphics artist Namdev Katkar said he would like the opposition to replace the alliance led by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, in his state, Maharashtra, one of the four going to the polls. India's financial capital, Mumbai, is in Maharashtra.