New Delhi: The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday termed the Union Budget for 2024-25 as anti-Odisha.
The BJD MPs in Rajya Sabha walked out of the Upper House when the Union Budget was being laid, strongly protesting the “neglect towards the state”.
“Before walking out, the BJD MPs strongly said in the House that they are walking out due to denial of Special Category State status to Odisha. While Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar had been asking for Special Category, the two states got Special additional funds while Odisha’s demand was not considered. Probably this is the punishment meted out to Odisha for electing 20 Lok Sabha BJP MPs out of 21 MPs from Odisha and the reward to the BJP allies from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh,” Patra posted on X.
Speaking to the media, senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya said the Centre has ignored Odisha’s genuine concerns by announcing that Polavaram Irrigation project will be completed. “The decision is discriminatory and a big blow to the interests of Odisha. It shows the government’s bias towards Andhra Pradesh since the state is being ruled by a key ally of BJP and it depends on it for the numbers in Parliament,” he said.
He added that BJD president Naveen Patnaik had consistently been raising the Polavaram issue, which is likely to submerge eight villages in Odisha, with the Centre. “This is not a good sign for democracy as the government is putting politics over nation,” he added.
It has been assessed that 6,316 persons from Odisha will be affected due the multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Eluru District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh.
Opposition Congress also alleged that Odisha has been betrayed by the BJP-led NDA government in the Budget.
Stating that the people of the state had high expectations from the budget, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Srikant Jena claimed that great injustice has been done to Odisha as the Centre has failed to provide anything concrete for the state. No concrete proposal has been made for removal of poverty in Odisha and the double-engine government has failed to give justice to the state in the Budget, Jena claimed.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi branded it as “Kursi Bachao (save your chair)” Budget. He alleged that the government made empty promises to its allies at the expense of other states. Gandhi contended that the Budget appeased cronies without offering relief to ordinary Indians, saying it was merely a copy-paste of the Congress’ previous Budget.
“‘Kursi Bachao’ Budget. – Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. – Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. – Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets,” he stated on X.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram took a dig at the government over the Union Budget, suggesting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman might have borrowed ideas from the Congress’s 2024 manifesto after the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh said that Sitharaman has taken a leaf out of its 2024 Lok Sabha polls manifesto by announcing an internship programme but “in their trademark style”, the scheme has been designed to “grab headlines with arbitrary targets” rather than a programmatic guarantee.
The Trinamool Congress also strongly criticised the BJP-led NDA government, stating that the Union Budget shows both financial mismanagement and political failures under the current regime.
TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee stated on X platform: “This BUDGET is a complete failure with ZERO WARRANTY, presented by a FAILED FINANCE MINISTER OF A FAILED GOVERNMENT. Instead of tackling urgent issues like unemployment, rising prices and growing inflation, the BJP has crafted a budget to bribe its coalition partners and buy time before the government IMPLODES!”
Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party accused the government of ignoring development initiatives for Uttar Pradesh and going against the interests of youth and farmers.
Reacting to special packages announced for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, Akhilesh further stated that Uttar Pradesh, tied to Narendra Modi’s rise to Prime Minister, found no mention in her speech despite earlier promises made to double the income of farmers in the state.
Similarly, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi said that the national capital did not receive any allocation from central taxes despite Rs 2.32 lakh crore in taxes paid to the Centre.
Calling it a “betrayal to Delhi people” at a press conference, the AAP leader said, “Delhi is the growth engine of the country. It pays more than Rs 2 lakh crore in income tax to the Centre and Rs 25,000 crore as central GST. Despite paying Rs 2.32 lakh crore in taxes to the Centre, Delhi was just asking for Rs 20,000 crore, which is just 0.4% of the Union Budget. But no money was given as its share in central taxes or to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.”
