Pay us our dues: Hemant Soren slams Centre for "neglecting" Jharkhand in Union budget

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday, 24 July slammed the Centre for "neglecting" the state in the Union budget, and alleged that the BJP leaders are "silent" over the dues from the Centre.

He also claimed that the Centre owes Rs 1.36 lakh crore to the state and demanded that its dues be paid by the Union government.

"Who is guilty of discrimination with the state? The Centre owes Rs 1.36 lakh crore to the state, but every BJP leader is silent on this issue. Give a special package to your crutches - pay us our dues," Soren said on X.

He was apparently referring to financial measures, announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget proposals on Tuesday, 23 July for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, ruled by key NDA allies -- Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP -- which are providing critical support to the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Announcing a host of developmental projects, Sitharaman proposed a total outlay of over Rs 60,000 crore for various projects in Bihar, where assembly polls are due next year, and Rs 15,000 crore for the 2024-25 fiscal for the development of Andhra Pradesh's capital city, a dream project of Naidu.

"(Former Jharkhand Chief Minister) Raghubar Das had left behind DVC's dues of Rs 5,000 crore - which the Centre had deducted from our account without informing us - and BJP leaders were clapping," Soren said sharing a post by JMM on the microblogging site.

He also asked, "Why are we being neglected despite giving 12 out of 14 MPs in 2014 and 2019 and having 9 (NDA) MPs today?"

Soren had on Tuesday said that the Union budget would help the Centre's "billionaire friends" at the cost of agriculture, and "loot" the budget of farmers.

This, he said, has happened when 60 per cent of the population of the country depend on agriculture for sustenance.