Opposition slams budget as ‘unfair’; government denies charge

In both Houses of Parliament, the Opposition attacked the government, accusing it of presenting a “discriminatory budget” that excluded the non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled States. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a strong rebuttal to this in Rajya Sabha, hitting out at the Opposition for deliberately maligning the government, and giving a wrong impression that some States had been left out.

The Rajya Sabha saw a sharp exchange of words between the two sides on Wednesday morning. The Opposition staged a walkout in protest. Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that only two States had benefited from the Union Budget, presented on Tuesday. He said it was a budget aimed solely at safeguarding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government. “I condemn all this. Opposition party-ruled States have been neglected. How will development happen if there is no balance? I condemn this and all the parties condemn this type of attitude,” Mr. Kharge said.

Ms. Sitharaman reacted strongly to the accusation, saying that all the States could not be named in the budget, and the Congress, which had been in power for long, should know better than to make such an allegation. The finer details about scheme-wise allocations were available for all to see in the budget documents, she said.

“The Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to set up a port at Vadhavan (in Maharashtra’s Palghar district), but Maharashtra’s name was not included in the budget [speech] yesterday. Does this mean that Maharashtra should feel ignored?” she said, adding that ₹76,000 crore had been allocated for this project.

“This is a deliberate attempt of the Opposition parties led by the Congress to give the people the wrong impression that their States were not allocated funds or schemes,” Ms. Sitharaman said. “I would challenge the Congress party to show that in every budget speech they have delivered, all the States have been listed out. This is an outrageous allegation,” she added.

Later in the afternoon, initiating the debate, former Finance Minister and Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram criticised the special treatment to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in the budget. “I don’t grudge at all that you are giving relief to Andhra Pradesh or Bihar, but what about the other States? We are a federal country. This is the death knell of federalism if you pick and choose among States. You are the Union of India, you are the Union government, you are the government of all the States. You cannot pick and choose one State and deny relief to another State,” Mr. Chidambaram said.

While unemployment is the biggest challenge for the government, Mr. Chidambaram said that the government’s latest employment-linked scheme did not instil confidence and will be another election jumla (insincere promise).

On inflation, he said the Finance Minister had dismissed the subject in 10 words. “Is inflation such a trivial subject?” Mr. Chidambaram asked, citing data from the government on inflation. He said the bank rate set by the Reserve Bank of India is a good measure to know where inflation is moving, and added that the Centre was unable to reach the target of 4% inflation in the last four years.

“I think what the Chief Economic Advisor said in the Economic Survey [on inflation] is injury, and the honourable Finance Minister dismissing the subject in 10 words is adding insult to injury,” he said, and added that the Centre was not taking inflation seriously. “If you don’t take inflation seriously, you will be punished more,” he said, citing the recent Assembly bypoll results.

In the Lok Sabha, too, the Opposition levelled a similar charge. Initiating the debate in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Kumari Selja termed the budget a collection of “jumlas”, cautioning NDA members Nitish Kumar and N. Chandrababu Naidu that they, “may celebrate today for getting a large share” but time could change.

“I would like to caution these two States... Nitish-ji has been with us for a long time, serving in 10th Lok Sabha term, and Naidu-ji is also very experienced. Do not be swayed by their (the Centre’s) words. It may seem today that they have given a lot, but it doesn’t take long for the tide to turn. Therefore, I want to caution them (Janata Dal-United or JD-U and Telugu Desam Party or TDP) as well. They may celebrate today, but it doesn’t take long for times to change,” she said.

Earlier in the day, before the two Houses sat down for business, the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc members staged a protest. Members of Parliament held placards with slogans, including ‘We want India budget not NDA budget’ and ‘NDA betrays India in Budget’.