Budget 2024: Just a political exercise to protect interests of Modi government, says Kerala Finance Minister
The Hindu
Kerala Finance Minister criticizes 2024-25 Union Budget as a political gimmick favouring BJP, neglecting Kerala's demands.
Kerala Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal on July 23 slammed the 2024-25 Union Budget, calling it a “gimmick” and a “political exercise” solely intended to protect the interests of the BJP-led NDA government.
“While the Union Budget is bitterly disappointing for the nation as a whole, for Kerala, especially, the Budget has failed to address any of its just demands,” he said.
The Budget has ignored Kerala’s demand for a ₹24,000-crore special economic package, a special assistance of ₹5,000 crore for the Vizhinjam international seaport project and the long-standing demand for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Mr. Balagopal noted.
“While the BJP opened its account in Kerala, Kerala’s account has been closed,” Mr. Balagopal remarked, in an apparent reference to the BJP candidate Suresh Gopi’s win in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and subsequent appointment as Minister of State alongside George Kurian.
Mr. Balagopal called for a united stand on the part of everyone, including the BJP Union Ministers from the State, the Opposition Congress-UDF MPs, to fight for the State’s rightful share.
At the national level, by ignoring large swathes of the country and focussing on a few regions, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has indulged in an exercise aimed at boosting the “health and long life” of the Modi government, he said.
“In this aspect, the Budget is unprecedented in the history of the country and proves that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no right to speak about federalism and cooperative federalism,” he alleged.