Nirmala Sitharaman Responds Strongly to Opposition
New Delhi:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the allegations of discrimination in the Budget 2024 allocations, noting that it is impractical to mention every state in the Budget speech.
Speaking to the Rajya Sabha after a walkout by the Opposition, Ms. Sitharaman remarked, “It is unfortunate that the Opposition, particularly senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge, voiced his views without staying to hear my response. In the spirit of democracy, one would expect the Opposition to listen to the counterpoints.”
Ms. Sitharaman responded to Kharge’s claim that she only mentioned two states in her speech. “The Congress party, having been in power for many years and presented numerous budgets, should understand that it’s not possible to name every state in every budget speech,” she said.
She referenced Maharashtra, which wasn’t mentioned in her speech but is set to receive a significant project. “Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have decided to establish a major port in Vadhavan, Maharashtra, with an investment of Rs 76,000 crore. Does not mentioning Maharashtra mean it was ignored?” she asked.
Ms. Sitharaman accused the Opposition, particularly the Congress, of misleading the public by suggesting that states governed by non-NDA parties are being neglected. “I challenge the Congress party to show any budget where every state was named. This allegation is baseless,” she asserted.
Responding to the Trinamool Congress’s criticism that Bengal was overlooked, Ms. Sitharaman pointed out that many schemes have not been implemented in West Bengal despite being sanctioned in the past decade. “You have the audacity to question the allocations now?” she retorted.
Trinamool members countered by highlighting unpaid dues owed to Bengal and raised concerns about flood management in Malda. Party MP Mausam Noor emphasized the severe flooding issues in Malda and criticized the government’s lack of action.
“The Finance Minister has been far from generous. Bengal has received nothing, especially to combat the recurrent floods in Malda. The situation is dire as the rivers Ganga and Pulahar are dangerously close to merging, threatening to displace many,” Ms. Noor said.
She urged the Centre to address the issue, noting that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly appealed to the Water Resources Ministry and Farakka Barrage authorities for a solution. “Under the UPA regime, anti-erosion measures were taken. Since 2014, however, there has been no significant action from Farakka Barrage,” she added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the Budget as deceptive, claiming it left most states empty-handed while favoring Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. “No state received anything substantial, except for two states which got special projects after their ruling parties supported the BJP,” he noted, referring to the TDP and JDU’s backing of the NDA government.
“States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi received nothing,” Mr. Kharge concluded.