Opposition accuses govt of ignoring states in Union Budget 2024, stages walkout in Rajya Sabha

The Opposition said the Union Budget 2024 provided funds for only two states: Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Pic/ PTI.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Opposition has accused the government of "ignoring" all the states, except Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, in the Union Budget 2024.

Responding to the allegations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the accusation is "outrageous" and that no previous budget, including the ones presented by the Congress, had covered all the states of the country, reported PTI.

After Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected notices under Rule 267 that called for the suspension of the listed agenda to take up the issue, Leader of Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Union Budget 2024 provided funds and schemes for only two states: Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. No other states found any mention in the budget, he said, terming it a "kursi-bachao" document.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the majority in the recently concluded general election and had to seek support from the Janata Dal (United) which is ruling in Bihar and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which is in power in Andhra Pradesh, for forming the government. Both JDU and TDP have been demanding special economic packages for their states.

In the Union Budget presented on Tuesday, Sitharaman announced Rs 60,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh and pledged support to get Rs 15,000-crore assistance from multilateral agencies for the southern state.

Kharge said the Congress and the other parties in the INDIA bloc "condemn" the discrimination.

As Dhankhar gave Sitharaman the floor to respond, Kharge led the Opposition bloc out of the House.

The finance minister said she did not name many states either in the interim budget presented in February ahead of the general election or in the full budget tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday but that does not mean that government schemes are not working for the states.

Citing Maharashtra's example, she said that though the state was not named in either of the budgets, the Union Cabinet approved the Rs 76,000-crore Vadhavan port project in Dahanu last month.

"Did Maharashtra get ignored because I did not mention its name? Rs 76,000 crore has been announced for that [Vadhavan] project," she said, adding that she can go on to cite several other states that have got major projects.

"If the speech does not mention the name of a particular state, does it mean that the schemes and programmes of the Government of India, the externally-aided assistance which we obtain from the World Bank, ADB (Asian Development Bank), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and other such institutions do not go to these states? They go as per a routine," she said.

The expenditure statement of the government gives out the item-wise allocation, the finance minister pointed out.

"This is a deliberate attempt by the Opposition parties, led by the Congress, to give an impression to people that nothing has been given to our states. I would challenge the Congress party on all the budget speeches they have delivered. In each of the budget speeches, have they named every state of the country?" she asked. "This is an outrageous allegation", which is "not acceptable", the finance minister added.

As the MPs belonging to Opposition parties returned to the House, the finance minister said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had alleged that nothing was provided to West Bengal in the budget, but the fact is that several schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past 10 years have not been implemented in the state.

Her statement was met with vociferous opposition from TMC members, who said the BJP-led Centre owes Rs 1 lakh crore to West Bengal.
Dhankhar said 20 hours have been allocated for a discussion on the Union Budget 2024 and the MPs as well as the finance minister will get adequate time to raise issues and respond.

(With PTI inputs)