Union Budget 2024: Hardeep Singh Puri Criticizes Opposition for Alleging Discrimination in Budget Discussion

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri dismissed claims that the Union Budget discriminates against opposition-ruled states. He emphasized that there was no discrimination in the budget and highlighted that several opposition leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee, had boycotted a meeting in May last year. Puri stressed that the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is not for a specific state, but for the entire union government. He expressed that Chief Ministers can address their grievances but criticized the attempt to politicize the issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget, presented on Tuesday, has faced heavy criticism, with Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee also expressing disapproval. Criticism has been directed at the allocation of packages for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, both ruled by parties whose support is important for the current government’s majority. The budget’s handling has sparked a debate regarding the distribution of Government of India schemes to different states, with questions raised about the fairness of allocations.