A day after she presented Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today countered the Opposition's allegations of discrimination in allocation, saying that every state cannot be named in the Budget speech.
Addressing Rajya Sabha after the Opposition staged a walkout, Ms 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."
"To the point that he (Kharge) raised that I have not named many states, and spoke about only two states. Congress party has been in power for a very long time in this country. They have presented so many different budgets. And they would know clearly that in every budget, you don't get an opportunity to name every state of this country," she said.
The minister cited the example of Maharashtra, which did not find a mention in her budget speech on February 1 or yesterday. "The cabinet has, under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, taken the decision to set up a very big port in Vadhavan in Maharashtra. Did Maharashtra get ignored because I did not mention the name? Rs 76,000 crore have been announced for that project."
"If the speech does not mention a particular state, does it mean the schemes of the government of India, the programmes of the government of India, the external aided assistance we obtain don't go to these states?" she asked.
She alleged that this is a deliberate attempt by the Opposition led by the Congress to give an impression to people that nothing is being given to states ruled by non-NDA parties. "I would challenge the Congress party, in each of their budget speeches, have they named every state of this country. This is an outrageous allegation," Ms Sitharaman said.
As some members of the Trinamool Congress returned to the House, the Finance Minister said, "Yesterday, the TMC questioned the Budget, saying nothing has been given to Bengal. Let me highlight the fact that several schemes given by the Prime Minister in the last 10 years have not even been implemented in West Bengal. And you have the audacity to ask me now?"
Trinamool members hit back, pointing at the unpaid dues the Centre owes to Bengal. Party MP Mausam Noor raised the issue of floods in north Bengal's Malda.
"The Finance Minister has not been generous at all. Zero has been given to Bengal and zero has been given to battle the floods in Malda. Every monsoon, Malda is devastated by floods in Ganga, Mahananda, Pulahar and Tangan. This year, it's more alarming. Over the course of time, the rivers have changed their directions and the distance between Ganga and Pulahar has come down to only 700 metres. If these rivers merge, there will be a huge disaster, causing colossal damage. Huge areas will be engulfed. People will lose land, mango orchards, farming fields and the situation will render lakhs homeless," she said.
Ms Noor said that the issue comes under the Centre's purview and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the Water Resources Ministry and the Farakka Barrage authorities several times to come up with a permanent solution. "During the UPA regime, anti-erosion and bank protection work had been conducted several times. But since 2014, Farakka Barrage has failed to combat the situation and take any major action," she said, seeking immediate attention to this issue.
Criticising the government over the Budget, Congress president Kharge has said the budget is a fraud against the people of the country. "No state got anything, everyone's plate is empty, but two states got pakora and jalebi." He was referring to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, which got several projects a month after the ruling parties, TDP and JDU, backed the BJP to form the NDA government at the Centre.
"Be it Tamil Nadu or Kerala or Karnataka or Maharashtra or Punjab or Haryana or Delhi, no state got anything," Mr Kharge said.