Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hit back at the Opposition's charges that the Union Budget 2024 was discriminatory, stating that"you don't get an opportunity to name every state of this country" during the Budget presentation.
The Centre was hit by allegations that it favoured states ruled by allies, which went against the principles of federalism and fairness that the Union Government must follow.
The Finance Minister clapped back against the allegations calling it a deliberate attempt of the Opposition led by Congress to give the impression that nothing has been given to our states. "In every Budget, you don’t get an opportunity to name every state. The Cabinet had taken a decision to set up a port on Vadavan. But, Maharashtra’s name was not taken in the Budget yesterday. Does this mean that Maharashtra has been ignored? If a particular state was not named in the speech, does it mean that programmes of GOI don't apply to these states? This is an outrageous allegation," she told during the monsoon session of the Rajya Sabha.
However, LoP Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the Finance Minister. "Yeh kursi bachane ke liye yeh sab hua hai...We will condemn it and protest against it. All INDIA alliance parties will protest. How will development happen if there is no balance?" Kharge added.
The opposition later staged a walkout.