Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday strongly criticized the opposition’s claims that the Union Budget was ‘discriminatory,’ calling it an ‘outrageous allegation’ and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. The opposition parties, led by the Congress, alleged that the budget unfairly favored Andhra Pradesh and Bihar while neglecting other states.
Sitharaman responded to these accusations, stating that the opposition’s claims were unfounded and aimed at creating a false narrative. She emphasized that it’s impractical to name every state in a budget speech and that funding for various schemes and programs is allocated through various channels, including external aid from organizations like the World Bank, ADB, and AIB.
Sitharaman cited the example of the Mahrashtra project, where the state’s name was not explicitly mentioned in the budget, despite allocating 76,000 crores for the project. She argued that the absence of a state’s name in the budget does not signify a lack of funding or support.
The opposition, led by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, had condemned the budget, claiming that no other states except Andhra Pradesh and Bihar received any significant allocations. Kharge further stated that states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Odisha were left out of the budget’s benefits.
He criticized the budget, stating that it was presented to appease certain individuals and to protect their positions within the government. The INDIA bloc, a coalition of opposition parties, held a protest in the Parliament complex, condemning the budget and raising slogans against it.
Prominent opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, Akhilesh Yadav, and Dola Sen, participated in the protest.
