Union Budget 2024 | Opposition protests against 'discriminatory' allocation; stages walkout in LS, RS

New Delhi: I.N.D.I.A. MPs on Wednesday vociferously protested inside and outside the Parliament against what they called a “discriminatory” Union Budget that ignored several Opposition-ruled states with lawmakers seeking to punch holes during debates in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha questioning Modi government's priorities.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed the allegations “outrageous” even as Opposition MPs used the Budget debate to criticise the “economic mismanagement and financial recklessness” by a “creaky, shaky and vulnerable” coalition government that is taking inflation “lightly” and serving the interests of “just two states”.

The Opposition lawmakers made their intentions clear at the start with a fiery protest at the ‘Makar Dwar’ of Parliament before the proceedings started followed by a walkout from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the morning session, calling it an “assault on the sanctity of India's federal structure”.

Top Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav along with MPs of Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Left and other parties shouted slogans and displayed placards in Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, English and Malayalam against the Modi government.

The placards included "We want India budget not NDA budget", "NDA betrays India in Budget", "Stop Attacking Fiscal Federalism", "India rejects NDA budget" and "Kerala Kept Out".

Sharing a picture of the protest on social media, Rahul Gandhi said, “this budget is an assault on the sanctity of India's federal structure - in the greed for power, other states of the country have been neglected and discriminated against. I.N.D.I.A bloc will continue to raise its voice to provide equal justice to every state of India.”

While Kharge said no one has got justice from the “deceptive budget”, Akhilesh said his state Uttar Pradesh has been discriminated against and the government has snatched away jobs and are now talking of apprenticeships.

As soon as the proceedings started, MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were on their feet protesting against the budget. Speaker Om Birla criticised the Opposition for disrupting proceedings in a “planned manner” while claiming that several members have written to him over the difficulty faced by them in entering the building due to protests. The MPs walked out after they were not allowed to raise the issue.

Rajya Sabha too witnessed a walkout in protest against all states except two being “ignored” in the budget with Nirmala saying that not naming a state in the budget speech does not mean that government schemes are not working for the states. She said Maharashtra was not named in the last two budget speeches but it has not prevented the Union Cabinet from approving the Rs 76,000-crore Vadhavan port project in Dahanu in the state last month.

As Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected notices for an immediate discussion on the issue, Kharge charged that the budget provided funds and schemes for only two states Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and said I.N.D.I.A. condemns this discrimination while announcing the walkout.

During the debate in Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram warned the government against taking inflation lightly, saying every family is hit hard by price rise.

Senior Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee claimed in the Lok Sabha that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading a "creaky, shaky and vulnerable" coalition government that has presented an “anti-people” budget that is aimed at "appeasing and compensating" coalition partners of the ruling NDA.

While Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the brakes of the Indian economy have fallen off but this government's horn keeps getting louder, DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran echoed Banerjee and said the budget is only for parties supporting him. 

Union Budget 2024 LIVE | Making a record for any Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman presented her 7th consecutive Union Budget on July 23, 2024 under the Modi 3.0 government. This Budget brought tax relief for the middle class, while focusing on jobs through skilling, incentivising employers. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analysis only on Deccan Herald. Also follow us on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.