Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget Session, in New Delhi on February 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Opposition members in Rajya Sabha, belonging to the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, walked out while Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was responding to the debate on the general Budget.
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The MPs alleged that Ms. Sitharaman had ignored the demands of the States in the Budget. Despite the States seeking more allocations, the Minister was merely reading out the schemes initiated by the Narendra Modi government since 2014, they said. Rajya Sabha was adjourned soon after the Minister’s reply and was scheduled to meet again on March 10 for the second lap of the Budget Session.
The issue began when Ms. Sitharaman countered Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury’s charges that Telangana was denied financial aid as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Ms. Sitharaman denied the claim and read out a list of schemes and programmes initiated for Telangana. Though former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had won from Medak in Telangana, it was Mr. Modi who gave the city a railway station, she said. She maintained that the Centre was committed to the development of the State.
On West Bengal, quoting Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, she said the State government did not submit a proposal for a tourism project and that was the reason for the Centre not allocating any amount in the project to develop tourism sites. Protesting against the statement, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien argued that the Finance Minister should not defame a State government as per the rules.
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BJP president and Minister J.P. Nadda defended Ms. Sitharaman and said the Opposition did not have the patience to listen to her response. Over 90 members had spoken in the House and the Finance Minister’s reply was the Union government’s position on the issues raised by each and every member, he added.
The members from Kerala too argued that the State was ignored in the Budget but Ms. Sitharaman denied the charge.
She also had a heated argument with DMK members. Senior MP Tiruchi Siva asked for details on the allocations to metro rail projects in Madurai and Coimbatore. She replied by saying that the Centre agreed to help Tamil Nadu with loans from multilateral agencies. Switching to Tamil, she said it was the Narendra Modi government that had helped the State continue the tradition of Jallikkattu when the practice was questioned at the Supreme Court.
During the debate, BJP members said the States had been given adequate allocation. The party’s MP from Uttar Pradesh Sangeeta Yadav said the State got about ₹1.5 lakh crore in the Budget and congratulated Ms. Sitharaman for allocations to pilgrimage centres such as Prayagraj and Varanasi.
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Published – February 13, 2025 10:30 pm IST
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