The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday saw a faceoff between Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders over no mention of West Bengal in the Union budget and release of Central funds.
The Finance Minister responded to the ‘not getting central funds’ claims of the Trinamool Congress and said, “For the last 10 years, Bengal has not implemented many PM Modi-led central government schemes and now it has the audacity to question me."
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday hit out at the Centre for not mentioning any special benefits for Opposition-ruled states such as West Bengal, Telangana, and Punjab. The TMC referred to the union budget as the ‘Andhra-Bihar’ budget, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party attempted to keep its allies, JD(U) and TDP, happy.
Trinamool Congress put up a cryptic post on social media striking off Union Budget-2024 and writing ‘Andhra-Bihar Budget’.
Speaking about the Union Budget, TMC leader Sushmita Dev said, “First of all please release the funds of Bengal. Rs 1.6 lakh crores are due. Unemployment is something that the government has put under the carpet. The Finance Minister needs to address the issue very seriously."
In a series of posts on X, Dev, also flagged that the updated Census was yet to be released. She pointed out that the Union Budget was meaningless without it.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee took to X and wrote, “This BUDGET is a complete failure with ZERO WARRANTY, presented by a FAILED FINANCE MINISTER OF A FAILED GOVERNMENT. Instead of tackling urgent issues like unemployment, rising prices and growing inflation, the BJP has crafted a budget to bribe its coalition partners and buy time before the government IMPLODES!"
The Union Minister also responded to the Opposition’s ‘kursi bachao’ jab over special allocations for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and claims of a copy-paste budget and said just because two states found mentions in her budget, it did not mean other states would not receive any funds from the Centre.
Speaking on the Union Budget in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, she said, “If a state is not mentioned in the speech, does that mean the government schemes don’t go to this state? This is a deliberate attempt of the Opposition led by Congress to give an impression to people that nothing is being given to other states. They are trying to show that only two states are getting everything."
The Union Budget on Tuesday allocated substantial funds for Bihar where JD(U) is in power, including over Rs 26,000 crore for highway development and Rs 11,500 crore for flood mitigation efforts, while TDP-led Andhra Pradesh received significant financial aid, including Rs 15,000 crore for state capital’s development with ongoing commitments for future support.
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