'States not ignored...': Sitharaman defends budget, hits back at opposition
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit back at the opposition's claims that the Union Budget disproportionately favors the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's allies, the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. During a Lok Sabha discussion on the budget, Sitharaman dismissed these allegations as a "misleading campaign." She added that not mentioning a state in the budget does not equate to its exclusion from financial allocations.
Sitharaman cites past budgets to defend position
Sitharaman defended her stance by referencing past budgets during the United Progressive Alliance era. She pointed out, "The Budget speech of 2004-05 did not take the name of 17 states. Did money not go to those states?" She further noted that in subsequent years, numerous states were also not specifically named in the budget speeches, yet they still received funding.
Creating a sense of fear: Sitharaman
Sitharaman underscored that ₹818 crore was allocated to Left-ruled Kerala as viable gap funding, despite the state not being specifically named in the budget. "If you want to distort, create a sense of fear you can go about distorting data. In the last few years, we have ministers go to each state and explain how much is given to each state," the minister added.
What did FM say about Bihar, Andhra in budget speech
To recall, Sitharaman announced substantial infrastructure investments for Bihar, including ₹26,000 crore for highways and ₹21,400 crore for a new power plant in Bhagalpur. Andhra Pradesh also received notable financial support, with ₹15,000 crore allocated for capital needs this fiscal year. In her budget speech, Sitharaman detailed several major projects for Bihar, such as an industrial node at Gaya and multiple expressways, while underscoring the Centre's commitment to Andhra Pradesh under the Reorganisation Act.
