"Can't Name Every State In Budget": Nirmala Sitharaman Hits Back At Opposition

A day after she presented Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today countered the Opposition's allegations of discrimination in allocation, saying that every state cannot be named in the Budget speech. 

Addressing Rajya Sabha after the Opposition staged a walkout, Ms Sitharaman said, "It is unfortunate that the Opposition, particularly a senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge who stood up to say his views on what he heard of the budget yesterday. I would think, and maybe it's a bit too much to expect, that in the honour of democracy, at least the Opposition would have stayed here to listen to what I have to respond."

"To the point that he (Kharge) raised that I have not named many states, and spoke about only two states. Congress party has been in power for a very long time in this country. They have presented so many different budgets. And they would know clearly that in every budget, you don't get an opportunity to name every state of this country," she said.