India group will oppose the budget
India Block Oppose: There is a possibility of uproar in Parliament today over the general budget. The opposition India Bloc has decided to protest in Parliament on Wednesday over the Union Budget. Many parties have termed it discriminatory against opposition-ruled states. Top leaders of India Bloc parties gathered at the 10 Rajaji Marg residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss the opposition’s strategy after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh consecutive budget. The leaders who attended the meeting at Kharge’s residence included Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant, DMK MPs TR Balu and Tiruchi Siva, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha.
Protest near the steps of Parliament
According to sources, opposition MPs will begin their protest near the steps of Parliament at 10.30 am on Wednesday. Speaking to the media after the meeting, KC Venugopal said that the concept of budget has already been destroyed by this year’s Union Budget. They have completely discriminated against most of the states. So the general sentiment in the India Block meeting was that we should protest against it.
Several opposition leaders criticised the budget as being biased towards Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, states governed by two key allies of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance. While the finance minister allocated Rs 15,000 crore for the development of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital Amaravati, Bihar has been allocated Rs 26,000 crore for several road connectivity projects.
Rahul calls it a ‘save your chair’ budget
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called it a ‘kursi sakao’ budget. “Pleasant allies: Hollow promises to please allies at the cost of other states. Appease your allies: No relief to the common Indian,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Copy and paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the state got a chombu (empty vessel) in the budget. He further said Karnataka sent a delegation to meet the finance minister during pre-budget discussions and requested Rs 5,400 crore as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission but no allocation was made for the state in the budget.
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Karnataka-Tamil Nadu CM protested
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that Finance Minister Sitharaman forgot all other states in the budget except those which are supporting the BJP-led government at the Centre. The DMK chief said, no special scheme has been announced for Tamil Nadu. Our demands have not been met. No new railway project has been announced for us. Apart from the protest by MPs, Congress Chief Ministers will also boycott the Niti Aayog meeting to be held on July 27. Congress’ KC Venugopal said that the attitude of this government is completely contrary to constitutional principles. We will not participate in a program which is completely designed to hide the discriminatory colors of this regime.