INDIA bloc holds protest in Parliament over ‘discrimination’ against non-BJP-ruled states in budget | India News

The opposition parties took the decision on Tuesday during a meeting of party leaders at the residence of Congress President and Leader of the Opposition at 10 Rajaji Marg in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

INDIA bloc to hold protest in Parliament today against ‘discrimination’ against non-BJP-ruled states in budget

New Delhi: A day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha, INDIA’s bloc parties will stage a protest in and outside Parliament over alleged “discrimination” against opposition-ruled states in the budget proposals. The opposition parties took the decision during a meeting of party leaders at the 10 Rajaji Marg residence of Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday.

Most important points

• The all-India bloc meeting was attended by several prominent leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress deputy leaders in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha Pramod Tiwari and Gaurav Gogoi, NCP (SCP) leader Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, DMK’s TR Baalu, JMM’s Mahua Maji, AAP’s Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh, and CPI(M)’s John Brittas. Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh were also present in the meeting.
• Talking to the media after the meeting, Venugopal said that the BJP government was discriminating against most states. “The concept of a budget has already been destroyed by this year’s Union Budget,” he added. Later, in a post on X, he alleged that the Union Budget presented by Sitharaman was against the “principles of federalism and fairness that the Union government has to follow.”
• As part of their protest, Congress ministers will also boycott the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27. “The attitude of this government is completely against the constitutional principles. We will not participate in an event that is only designed to hide the true discriminatory colours of this regime,” Venugopal said.
• Congress MP Pramod Tiwari alleged that the budget had “excluded” states ruled by non-BJP governments. “This budget is against the federal structure of the country,” he alleged.
• Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday presented the Union Budget for 2024-25. It was her seventh consecutive budget presentation. This is the first budget under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term. Sitharaman announced income tax relief for the middle class, an outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore on job creation schemes over the next five years, as she unveiled the first budget of the Modi 3.0 government after the general elections.
• Among the various proposals, Sitharaman announced significant financial packages for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Notably, the two states are ruled by the BJP-led NDA’s new coalition partners — Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP — which helped form the government at the Centre for the third consecutive term after the saffron party failed to secure an absolute majority in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.
• For Bihar, Sitharaman announced a total outlay of over Rs 60,000 crore for various projects. She also announced that the government will set up airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in the state, which will hold Assembly elections next year. For Andhra Pradesh, Rs 15,000 crore has been allocated for the development of its capital Amravati, a dream project of Chief Minister Naidu.