'You will be isolated': MK Stalin's warning to PM Modi amid Budget row
The Tamil Nadu chief minister took to X platform to advise PM Modi on how to run the government and not to avenge rivals who defeated them in the elections
Amid the row over the 2024 Budget favouring only some states, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday (July 24) took to advising Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to run the government according to his "political likes and dislikes" or else he will end up being "isolated".
A day after the 2024 Budget was presented in Parliament, which was heavily criticised by Opposition parties, Stalin warned PM Modi in a post on X (formerly Twitter) not to focus on avenging those who defeated him in the Lok Sabha elections.
Instead, Stalin suggested that Modi should 'run the government in general. Don’t be bent on avenging those who have defeated you.” The DMK, who is part of the Congress-helmed INDIA bloc had served as a major roadblock for the BJP trying to make their foray into the southern bastion of TN. The BJP again drew a blank for a second successive time in TN.
Further, Stalin, who began the post saying that the election is over told PM Modi to now think about the country.
"Budget 2024 will save your rule... but will not save the nation. I am obliged to advise you that if you run the government targeting your rivals and not objectively you will be isolated.”
Bihar and AP focus
Stalin’s dig at PM Modi comes after many Opposition leaders slammed the government and the 2024 Union budget for favouring some states like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and completely ignoring other states, particularly the non-BJP ruled states. The INDIA coalition MPs have protested terming allocations to States where NDA allies governed as an “insurance” to shore up a fragile coalition under the BJP, while the treasury benches hotly refuted these claims.
Stalin's attack also came hours after the Opposition staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha, claiming other states had been discriminated against by the Centre in the Budget. And, also after four Opposition chief ministers, including Stalin pointedly skipped the Niti Aayog meeting. Besides Stalin, Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) gave the meeting a miss to embarrass the Modi-led government.
Overlooking TN's demands
To drive home the point of being overlooked in the 2024 Budget, TN government pointed out that the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail and similar developments in Coimbatore have not been given any funds.
Neither has there been any provision made for the restoration of flood-hit areas in Chennai and southern districts. The DMK said the state had asked for ₹ 37,000 crore but received only ₹ 276 crore so far.
Meanwhile, to address flood-related disasters in Bihar, the government has pledged financial assistance amounting to ₹11,500 crore. In all, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced ₹58,000 crore for Bihar and pledged support to get ₹15,000 crore in assistance from multilateral agencies for Andhra Pradesh.
The AIADMK, TN's Opposition party that had earlier allied with the BJP too agreed that the state was being ignored by Modi's government.
Sidelining TN comes despite the fact that the state contributes 10 times more tax to the Indian economy than Bihar, DMK spokesperson A Saravanan pointed out. ”We are the biggest tax contributor," he said.
Ridiculous, says Annamalai
Meanwhile, the BJP chief in TN, K Annamalai, has defended the BJP-led Centre calling Stalin’s comments "ridiculous".
According to Annamalai, TN had not been mentioned in six of 10 budgets presented by the Congress-led UPA I and II governments. A point that was made earlier by Sitharaman while defending her budget as being non-partisan.
Annamalai lashed out at Stalin saying that he is trying to create an impression that no welfare schemes will be made available to states other than those named (in the Union Budget).
"When DMK was allied with Congress for ten years, Tamil Nadu did not appear in budgets filed for six years. Will you say (in that time), centre did not provide any programmes to Tamil Nadu?" he asked.
Kursi-bachao budget
In her budget speech, Sitharaman had listed bonanza packages for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, who are key allies of the BJP that ensure the BJP remains above the 272 majority mark in Parliament.
Sitharaman, however, today defended allegations of favouring only some states saying that all the states never found a mention in any of the previous Budgets, including those presented by the Congress. And hit back strongly telling the Opposition in Parliament that in every budget "you don't get an opportunity to name every state".
Meanwhile, in the Rajya Sabha today, Leader of Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Union Budget for 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025) fiscal year provided funds and schemes for only two states – Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. All other states did not find any mention, he said, terming the budget a "kursi-bachao" document.
