Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took a dig at Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman alleging that the Budget 2024 is “discriminatory” towards states. Rajya Sabha LoP Kharge alleged that the budget was only to “please a few people” and protect the chair.
“No state received anything,” Kharge said, adding that the ‘plates’ of all states except two –Bihar and Andhra Pradesh– were left empty in the Union budget presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman.
Kharge targeted Sitharaman, who represents Karnataka in the upper house, saying, “I was expecting that I’ll get the most. But we didn’t get anything.”
When Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked LoP Kharge to let Sitharaman respond, he retorted, “Main bol deta hun. Mataji bolne mein toh expert hain mujhe maloom hai. (Let me finish. Mataji is expert in speaking, I am aware of that.)”
“Yeh kursi bachane ke liye yeh sab hua hai…We will condemn it and protest against it. All INDIA alliance parties will protest…How will development happen if there is no balance?” Kharge said, before walking out of Rajya Sabha.
Denying allegations, the finance minister said it is not possible to name every state in a budget speech.
“Let me take Maharashtra for instance, between vote on account and yesterday’s budget, cabinet has passed a very important decision to set up a very big port in Vadhavan,” Sitharaman said, referring to the proposed deep sea port in Palghar district.
Sitharaman further accused the Congress party of “deliberately misleading” the public.
“I am saying with responsibility that this is a ‘deliberate attempt’ of the opposition parties led by the Congress to give the people the wrong impression that their states were not allocated funds or schemes,” the Finance Minister said.
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