Alleging that the budget presented yesterday discriminated against opposition-ruled states, India Block MPs today staged a protest in the Parliament premises. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the budget attacked the sanctity of India's federal structure.
Apart from Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, various MPs from Congress, Trinamool, DMK and Left parties also joined the protest.
Opposing the budget, Congress President Kharge said that this budget is anti-people and no one has been given justice in it. He was talking about a special package but no state has been given special status. This budget has done injustice to the people of the country.
As part of the anti-budget protest, Congress Chief Ministers will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting to be held on July 27.
Congress-led India Block MPs walked out of Rajya Sabha in protest against the neglect of Congress-ruled states in the budget.
Responding to the allegations of opposition MPs, Union Finance Minister Sitharaman said that in the interim budget presented in February and the full budget presented on Tuesday, she did not name many states. So this does not mean that the central government's schemes are not working in such states.