Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday rebuffed accusations from the Opposition, which labeled the budget as discriminatory.
While clarifying her stance, she said, “This is an outrageous allegation. Congress has been in power for a very long time in India. You don’t get an opportunity to name a state in every budget.”
Sitharaman highlighted Maharashtra as an example, pointing out that despite not being named in the budget speeches, the state received significant funding. “Maharashtra, for example, between the interim and full budget, I had not named at all. Although the Cabinet under PM Modi passed a very important decision to set up a major port in the state. Did they get ignored if I didn’t mention their name? Rs 76,000 crore has been allocated for the project.”
Sitharaman highlighted the outlook on budget allocations and said, “There are so many other states where we have major projects. If the speech does not mention the name of a specific state, does it mean our other schemes and funds don’t go to them? They go as per routine and the expenditure statement mentions all this.”
“This is a deliberate attempt by the INDIA bloc to give an impression to people that their state hasn’t received anything and that funds have only gone to specific states,” she further added.
Responding to West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticism that the state received no benefits, Sitharaman noted that schemes provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have not been implemented in West Bengal by the TMC.
Trinamool MPs, along with other INDIA bloc members, protested in Parliament against what they termed the “discriminatory budget” claiming it offered “zero guarantee & zero warranty.”
Opposition’s protest
INDIA bloc leaders on Wednesday staged a protest in the parliament against Union Budget 2024, calling it discriminatory.
On July 23, 2024, Sitharaman presented full budget for FY25, which included several proposals for Bihar with a total outlay of over Rs 60,000 crore. The finance minister proposed to expedite the requests of Nitish Kumar’s government for loans from multilateral banks.
Additionally, the government has pledged financial assistance totaling Rs 11,500 crore. The centre will also support the transformation of Nalanda in Bihar into a tourist destination.
Sitharaman also proposed measures for Andhra Pradesh providing Rs 15,000 crore in financial aid via multilateral agencies for the development of Andhra Pradesh’s capital city, a dream project of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
