Discrimination Against Opposition States? INDI Alliance Plans Protest Against Union Budget 2024-25

The INDI Alliance parties are set to protest both within and outside the Parliament today (24 July), accusing the Union Budget 2024-25 of being biased against states governed by the opposition.

The protest decision was made during a high-level meeting attended by key INDI Alliance leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Pramod Tiwari, Gaurav Gogoi, Sharad Pawar, Sanjay Raut, Derek O'Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, TR Baalu, Mahua Maji, Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, and John Brittas.

Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh were also in attendance.

"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 we have to protest against this," Venugopal claimed after the meeting.

Later on social media, Venugopal described the budget as "extremely discriminatory and dangerous," claiming that it undermines federalism and fairness.

In addition to the protests, Congress chief ministers plan to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting on 27 July, NDTV reported.

"We will not participate in an event that is solely designed to hide the true, discriminatory colors of this regime," Venugopal alleged.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the 2024-25 Budget on Tuesday, her seventh consecutive budget, setting a new record surpassing former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

This budget is the first under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term in office.

The budget also earmarked significant projects for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, states whose political leaders have aligned with the BJP to secure a parliamentary majority.

For Bihar, the budget outlines the development of expressways and a power plant, while Andhra Pradesh will see infrastructure projects prioritised, including substantial financial support for capital development.

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