'Budget for Appeasing Allies': Ruling TMC in Bengal And Congress in Telangana Slam Centre for Neglecting Their States

Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal and Congress-administered Telangana railed against the union budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday for neglecting the two states.

The TMC termed it a budget to save the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre by appeasing allies Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party.

Money from Centre pending: Mamata

TMC chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee termed the budget “anti-people, anti-poor, and visionless”.

“I have no problem that they have given money to Bihar or Andhra. But my question is so much money is pending from the central government, about 1 lakh 71 thousand crore rupees, and they have not given us money. The people of Bengal will roar back. They (the Centre) have given money to all states for floods, but not to us. This is an anti-people, anti-poor, vision-less budget,” she said.

Sources in the TMC said that they will raise the issue vociferously in the days to come.

TMC insiders said that flood management is also a big issue in north Bengal where the BJP has performed well in polls for the past few years. Trinamool leaders are expected to highlight this matter in the region.

BJP’s West Bengal MP Sukanta Majumdar though countered the TMC’s claims. “The way floods take place in Assam, does it happen in Bengal? If Sikkim gets help, then north Bengal will get benefitted. This is overall a very good budget. They (TMC) have no point that’s why they are saying all this.”

‘No benefits for Telangana’

Telangana’s irrigation and civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and former minister K Taraka Rama Rao expressed their disappointment at the fact that the youngest state of India received “no benefits” from the Centre.

In a press meet, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the budget was drafted not for the people, but to please BJP’s allies, JD(U) and TDP. “While Bihar was given financial aid of Rs 41,000 crore, Andhra Pradesh got Rs 15,000 crore and other sops, including funds for completion of the Polavaram project. Congress-ruled states, especially Telangana, were grossly neglected,” he said. “This was the 11th budget after the formation of Telangana in 2014, but the new state remains neglected by the Centre. For the first time since 2014, a separate chapter titled ‘Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act’ was incorporated in the budget, but the finance minister did not mention ‘Telangana’ in her entire speech of 58 pages and 14,692 words.”

The minister said that while his government is not against the Centre giving funds to Andhra Pradesh, it condemns the discrimination towards Telangana. “Led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, a delegation of Telangana ministers submitted various applications to all ministries in the last seven months seeking funds for various projects. But our pleas were completely ignored. The BJP government promised to fund the Polavaram project but gave no assurance of giving funds for the Palamuru Ranga Lift Irrigation Scheme. We are still hopeful that the Centre will allocate funds for this irrigation project as promised by the then union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,” he said.

Reddy added that Sitharaman sanctioned grants for the backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam, and north coastal Andhra but neglected the backward regions of Telangana. “Eight BJP MPs, including two union ministers, G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, failed to get a decent share for Telangana in the union budget,” he rued.

Speaking on the same lines, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former minister K Taraka Rama Rao said that Telangana received the short end of the stick once again. “Despite having a budget of more than Rs 48 lakh crore, only a few states received benefits. It is disappointing that Telangana is not mentioned in the entire budget. Once again, Telangana has received nothing,” he said. “In the past, former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao had requested the central government to take decisions on nearly 35 promises made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. We have repeatedly written letters and made appeals. However. there was no mention of additional funds for Mulugu University, the Bayyaram Steel Factory, or the Railway Coach Factory in Kazipet. Further, national status has not been granted to any irrigation projects in the state.”

KTR exhorted the people of Telangana to develop a strong political identity. “The people of Telangana should think about the outcome of giving 16 seats to national parties like the BJP and Congress. We need to understand that a political identity is crucial for Telangana’s development,” he said.