Opposition walks out of RS over 'neglect' of states in budget; FM hits back

The INDIA opposition bloc parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha (RS) over alleged discrimination against non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) states in the Union Budget 2024, presented by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman.

After 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 for the 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025) fiscal year provided funds and schemes for only two states -- Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. He said all other states did not find any mention and termed the budget ‘kursi-bachao’ document. 

Addressing in RS, FM Nirmala Sitharaman defended the Budget 2024, amid opposition MPs' claims that it was discriminatory. She said that no state has been ignored in the Budget 2024 and that the Opposition is deliberately trying to mislead the citizens. Soon after her speech, the Opposition MPs walked out of RS. 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 Parliament on Tuesday, but that does not mean that government schemes are not working for the states. She further stated that the Union Cabinet has decided to set up a port on Vandhavan, a town in Maharashtra's Palghar district, but the state's name was not mentioned in her Budget speech on Tuesday. 

Following the Opposition's walkout, Sitharaman said, ‘It is unfortunate that the Opposition, particularly a senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge who stood up to say his views on what he heard of the budget yesterday. I would think, and maybe it's a bit too much to expect, that in the honour of democracy, at least the Opposition would have stayed here to listen to what I have to respond.’ 

Outside the Parliament, leaders of the Congress, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with those of the Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Left, staged a protest and raised placards that read ‘INDIA rejects NDA budget’, ‘NDA betrays INDIA in Budget’ and ‘Treat All States Equally’, among others. As part of their protest, Congress chief ministers have decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting on July 27, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair.