'She is misleading the country', Congress MP Venugopal alleges FM Sitharaman on Union Budget

Jul 24, 2024

New Delhi [India], July 24 : On FM Nirmala Sitharaman's criticism of INDI Alliance's protest over Union Budget 2024, Congress MP KC Venugopal alleged that the Finance Minister is misleading the country but she is going to reply on the Budget.
While talking to ANI, Venugopal said, "Actually, she is misleading the country. Anyway, she is going to reply on the Budget. She should tell us what she is giving to Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra."
"In her 1 hour 40 minutes long speech, she did not even spell some of the major states, including Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. That is why, we are mentioning that. She only misled the House," said the Congress leader.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday lashed out at the opposition's claim that the budget was 'discriminatory' and said that it was an 'outrageous allegation' and a deliberate attempt by the opposition parties led by the Congress to give the people the wrong impression that their states were not allocated funds or schemes.
The Finance Minister reacted after Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, made claims that the budget was discriminatory towards the states of the country.
Challenging the Congress, the Finance Minister said, "I would challenge the Congress party that for all the budget speeches they have delivered. Have they named every state of the country in each of their budget speeches? This is an outrageous allegation," she stated.
Earlier, INDIA bloc MPs held a protest in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, against the Union Budget, presented on Tuesday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
"Opposition virodhi kursi bachao Budget murda baad" slogans were raised by the INDIA bloc leaders as they protested holding placards in the Parliament building, claiming that the Budget is "discriminatory" in nature.