‘Needs of all states taken care of’: BJP slams Cong’s ‘discrimination’ charge against budget
XFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday dismissed the Congress charge of the Union Budget being "discriminatory" towards opposition-ruled states and asserted that every state and section has been taken care of by the Modi government.
Participating in the general discussion on the budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP from Tripura Biplab Deb said the NDA will be in government till 2047 and will take India to newer heights, while making the country number one economy in the world.
He said the interests of all states and all sections have been taken care of. An additional Rs 4.82 lakh crore share has been allocated for the states, he added.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantee is still there, it is there in the budget also," he said.
Deb also hit out at the Congress and other opposition parties for alleging that the Constitution is under threat.
He said the Congress invoked Article 356 70 times to attack the Constitution.
He recalled that it was a Congress government that had imposed Emergency in 1975 for the benefit of "one person and one family".
"Why was the Emergency imposed, it was imposed because of one person and one family. The Emergency was imposed for one person — Indira Gandhi…now they carry the copy of Constitution," Deb said, taking a swipe at the Congress.
He said the Congress could not go past the mark of 240 seats in total over the past three general elections but it was taking swipes at the BJP over not crossing 400 seats.
"We will do '400 paar', there will be a government of BJP and NDA till 1947 and people will give a befitting reply to the Opposition," he said.
Deb also exuded confidence that in the next three years, India will become the third largest economy in the world.
"Congress' (Kumari) Selja ji called it a 'Kursi Bachao budget'…it means the Congress does not need Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. This budget is for everyone… Every section has been taken care of by Sitharaman," Deb said.
He also hailed the Modi government's development works in the northeast, saying there were only nine airports during the Congress rule but under the Modi government there are 16.
The BJP leader said the prime minister and his entire cabinet visited northeast for its development innumerable times, while under the Congress rule only corruption prevailed there.