New Delhi: Hitting out at the Government, key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress on Monday criticised its General Budget for containing no bailout package for West Bengal and bluntly told it that the party was not supposed to be moving around with a "begging bowl".
Participating in a debate on the budget in the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool member Sukhendu Sekher Roy said the centre should share revenue with West Bengal as also other states on 50-50 basis rather than the Centre taking the major chunk.
"When we look at the Budget, a very unpleasant question comes into my mind...whether we are living as a federation?" Roy said.
Referring to the budget, he said, "It was disappointing to see that there was no whisper about bailing out the states which are debt-stressed," mainly West Bengal, which was reeling under over Rs two lakh crore debt burden.
"We are not supposed to move around with a begging bowl," the Trinamool member said.
Talking about revenue-sharing, he said it should revisted and re-oriented and be on 50-50 basis. He alleged that the Centre was adopting a step-motherly attitude towards West Bengal. "When we look at the Budget, a very unpleasant question comes into my mind - that is whether we are living as a federation?"
He said the Budget did not have any bailout package though the Trinamool Congress had been asking for it from the Centre for quite some time.
"West Bengal is reeling under unprecedented economic situation," he said, alleging that the state has been "ruined" by the previous Left Front government.
The Centre should bail out West Bengal like Greece was bailed out by the European Union, he said.
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