I.N.D.I.A. stages walkout, demands funds for states

NEW DELHI: The INDIA bloc MPs on Wednesday staged a walkout in both Houses of Parliament protesting the alleged discrimination against the Opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget. The Opposition MPs also staged a protest in the Parliament premises over the issue. Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi called the Budget an "assault" on India's Federal structure. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharamanm termed the allegation "outrageous", while the BJP said the criticism exposes the Congress' negative attitude towards “some backward states”.

Before the start of session, the Opposition MPs staged a protest in Parliament premises over the alleged discrimination in the Union Budget. Mr Gandhi called the Budget an "assault on the sanctity of India's federal structure".

Sharing a picture of the protest on his WhatsApp channel, Mr Gandhi posted in Hindi, "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. The INDIA bloc will continue to raise its voice to provide equal justice to every state of India."

Besides Mr Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, along with several MPs of the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, DMK and the Left, joined the protest held on the steps leading up to the Makar Dwar of Parliament.

Protesting against the Budget, Mr Kharge said, "This Budget is anti-people, no one has got justice. They have talked about special package, but special status has not been given. This is a deceptive budget and an injustice to the people."

In the Lok Sabha, the INDIA bloc MPs staged a walkout protesting the alleged discrimination against Opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget. As soon as the House met for the day, the Opposition members tried to raise the issue of budgetary allocations.

As Opposition members raised slogans, Speaker Om Birla cautioned them against disrupting the Question Hour and said members from both sides should follow parliamentary traditions. The Speaker questioned the Opposition for disrupting House proceedings in a "planned manner".

Both Mr Birla and parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju flagged the issue of MPs facing difficulty entering Parliament House due to the Opposition protests on the steps of the building. The Speaker said that several members have written to him over the difficulty faced by them. As they were disallowed to raise their issue, the Opposition members staged a walkout.

In Rajya Sabha, after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected notices under Rule 267 that called for the suspension of the listed agenda to take up the issue, Mr Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, said that the Union Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year provided funds and schemes for only two states -- Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

“All other states did not find any mention,” Mr Kharge said, terming the Budget a "kursi-bachao" document. He said the Congress and the other INDIA bloc parties "condemn" this discrimination.

As Mr Dhankhar gave Ms Sitharaman the floor to respond, Mr Kharge led the Opposition bloc out of the House, saying they were walking out in protest.

The Union finance minister termed the Congress allegation outrageous. She said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous Budgets, including those presented by the Congress.

Ms Sitharaman said that she did not name many states either in the interim Budget presented in February ahead of the general election or in the full budget tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, but that does not mean that government schemes are not working for the states.

The Union minister cited the example of Maharashtra, which was not named in either of the Budgets and said that did not prevent the Union Cabinet from approving the `76,000 crores Vadhavan port project in Dahanu in the state last month.

"Did Maharashtra get ignored because I did not mention the name of Maharashtra? (An amount of) `76,000 crores has been announced for that project," Ms Sitharaman said, adding that she can go on to cite several other states that have got major projects.

"If the speech does not mention the name of a particular state, does it mean that the schemes of the government of India, the programmes of the government of India and the externally-aided assistance that we obtain from the World Bank, ADB, AIIB and institutions like that do not go to these states? They go as per a routine," she said.

The Union finance minister pointed out that the expenditure statement of the government gives out the item-wise allocation.

"This is a deliberate attempt by the Opposition parties, led by the Congress, to give an impression to people that, oh, nothing has been given to our states. It has only been given to two states," she said, throwing a challenge to the Congress to show if they named every state of the country in each of their Budget speeches.

"This is an outrageous allegation, which is "not acceptable,” Ms Sitharaman said.

As the MPs belonging to Opposition parties returned to the House, the finance minister said that the Trinamul Congress had raised questions on Tuesday about nothing being given to West Bengal in the Budget, but the fact is that several schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 10 years have not been implemented in the state.

Her statement was met with vociferous opposition from the TMC members, who claimed the BJP-led Centre owes `1-lakh crore to West Bengal.

Reacting to the Opposition calling the Budget "discriminatory", the BJP lashed out at the Congress and other parties and said it reveals their political frustration and negative attitude towards "some backward states" that need special focus and assistance for development.