INDIA bloc condemns Union Budget as "anti-people" and discriminatory; to boycott NITI Aayog meeting

INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday, 24 July over the discrimination against opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget.

Besides Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, 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, 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 injustice to the people."

The MPs raised placards such as 'We want India budget not NDA budget' and 'NDA betrays India in Budget'.

"Yesterday, through the budget, the government of India violated all the principles to keep the federal system," Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, said.

"The aim of the budget was to protect the government. Giving so many sops to just two states. We are not against giving funds to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar but other states should also get justice. That is why we are agitating today. Even the people are agitated with this," he said.

SP MP Jaya Bachchan slammed the budget, saying youth have been given false promises.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said his state Uttar Pradesh has been discriminated against. They snatched away jobs and are now talking of apprenticeships, he said.

The decision to protest had been taken at a meeting of floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties at the 10 Rajaji Marg residence of the Congress president on Tuesday evening, 23 July.

Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Congress' deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, TMC leaders Derek O'Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, DMK's T R Baalu, JMM's Mahua Maji, AAP's Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh, and CPI(M)'s John Brittas, among others, had attended the meeting.

"The concept of a budget has already been destroyed by this year's Union Budget. They have completely discriminated against most of the states. So the general sentiment of the INDIA bloc meeting was that we have to protest against this," Venugopal had told reporters after the meeting.

Later, in a post on X, Venugopal had said, "The Union Budget presented today was extremely discriminatory and dangerous, which completely goes against the principles of federalism and fairness that the Union Government must follow."

In protest, Congress chief ministers will be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for 27 July.

"This government's attitude is completely antithetical to Constitutional principles. We will not participate in an event that is solely designed to hide the true, discriminatory colours of this regime," he had said.