Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Continuing his attack on the central government for “ignoring” Tamil Nadu in the Union Budget, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday warned the BJP that the party will be “isolated” if it runs the government according to its “likes and dislikes”.
“I am obliged to advise you that you will be isolated if you run the government according to political likes and dislikes”, Stalin said in a cryptic post on his social media accounts as MPs belonging to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc staged a protest in the Parliament complex condemning the Budget exercise ignoring Opposition-ruled states.
Stalin recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that since the election is over, everyone should start thinking about the government.
“Budget 2024 presented in Parliament might save your government, but not the country. Run the government in its course. Don't be bent on avenging those who have trounced you electorally”, Stalin added. The Tamil Nadu CM's statement comes a day after he announced that he would boycott the meeting of the NITI Aayog governing council on July 27.
In a statement, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai termed Stalin's decision to be “quite theatrical”. “TN CM is trying to mislead the people into believing that only the states mentioned in the Budget speech will receive benefits, ignoring that the previous Congress-DMK UPA govt failed to include Tamil Nadu in 6 budget speeches between 2004 and 2014”, he said.
He also asked whether Stalin is unaware of the fact that between 2014 and 2024, under the BJP Government, Tamil Nadu received ten times more through budget announcements than in years under the UPA Government.
“What is the TN CM hoping to achieve by choosing to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting aimed at addressing state needs? It is a fact that DMK MPs, elected to speak for their constituencies in Parliament over the past five years, have failed to address any constituency-related issues”, he added.