Opposition parties resorted to vehement protest in and out of Parliament on Wednesday over the alleged discrimination against Opposition-ruled States in the Union Budget. MPs belonging to the INDIA Bloc staged protest in Parliament premises during the day and also walked out from the Rajya Sabha while heated exchange of words between the ruling benches were noticed when issues like Article 356, Emergency cropped up.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed the allegations by Opposition benches “outrageous” and said all the States never found a mention in any of the previous Budgets, including those presented by the Congress. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Budget is an “assault on the sanctity of India’s federal structure”. Ruling BJP dismissed the Congress charge of the Union Budget being “discriminatory” towards Opposition-ruled States and asserted that every State and section has been taken care of by the Modi Government.

No State ignored in Budget, Opposition trying to mislead, said Sitharaman.

In the protest in Parliament premises besides Rahul, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, 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. Sharing a picture of the protest on his WhatsApp channel, Rahul said, “Today, along with INDIA janbandhan MPs, protested against NDA’s ‘Kursi Bachao Budget’ in Parliament House premises.”

Further, to continue with protest, Congress Chief Ministers and other non-BJP led CM of States like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab will be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27. Led by Congress, Opposition staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha.

After Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected notices under Rule 267 that called for the suspension of the listed agenda to take up the issue, Leader of Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Union Budget for the 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025) fiscal year provided funds and schemes for only two states — Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. As Dhankhar gave Sitharaman the floor to respond, Kharge led the Opposition bloc out of the House, saying they were walking out in protest.

The Finance Minister said she did not name many States either in the interim Budget presented in February ahead of the general election or in the full Budget tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, but that does not mean that government schemes are not working for the states. Sitharaman said she can go on to cite several other states that have got major projects.

“This is a deliberate attempt of the Opposition parties, led by the Congress, to give an impression to people that ‘oh, nothing has been given to our States, it has only been given to two States’. I would challenge the Congress party for all the Budget speeches they have delivered, that in each of the Budget speeches, have they named every State of the country?” she asked. “This is an outrageous allegation”, which is “not acceptable”, she added.

As the MPs belonging to opposition parties returned to the House, the finance minister said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had raised questions on Tuesday about nothing being given to West Bengal in the budget, but the fact is that several schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 10 years have not been implemented in the state. Her statement was met with vociferous opposition from the TMC members, who said the BJP-led Centre owes Rs 1 lakh crore to West Bengal.