Sitharaman, Kharge spar over 'injustice' to oppn-ruled states
Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday sparred with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the House over the budget, with the former alleging that Opposition-ruled states have not received any funds, a charge Sitharaman dismissed. She said while allocations have been made, it is not possible to name each state in a speech.
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Soon after the Upper House met, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called upon Kharge to speak. «There is nothing in the budget for states and their plates are empty. The plates of two states have pakoras and jalebis but the other states have nothing. There is nothing for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh or Delhi or even Odisha. All funds have been given to keep some people happy and to save their seat (power),» he said.
«The states where the Opposition parties won and people rejected them have got nothing. If there is no balance, how will development take place? We condemn this. All Opposition parties condemn this,» Kharge said.
But when Sitharaman, who was present in the House, got up to speak, the Opposition walked out. At this, Dhankhar lamented that the LoP has «under a ploy and strategy» misused the opportunity given to him by the chair and caused this disruption «as a weapon».
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