Stalin says TN disregarded in Budget, to boycott July 27 NITI Aayog meet

Chennai, Jul 23 (PTI) Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday said Tamil Nadu has been completely ignored in the Union Budget and to condemn it, he said he will boycott the July 27 NITI Aayog meet in Delhi, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Terming the budget a big disappointment, the Chief Minister said it is appropriate to boycott NITI Aayog meet, since the Centre has totally ignored Tamil Nadu.

DMK MPs will stage a protest in Delhi on July 24 over the Union Budget.

"In order to establish Tamil Nadu's rights, we will continue to fight in the people's court." Speaking to reporters, Stalin said that in order to satisfy a few regional parties that made a 'minority BJP' into 'majority BJP', schemes have announced in the Budget for a few states, apparently referring to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Though such schemes have been announced by the Centre, it is doubtful whether these will be implemented. Though the Union government had announced 'Metro Rail scheme' for Tamil Nadu, no fund allocation has been made for it (Chennai Metro Rail Phase-2) and the state is being deceived till date, Stalin said.

Similarly, there is no guarantee that Bihar and Andhra Pradesh will not share Tamil Nadu's fate in future.

Both Tamil Nadu and the Tirukkural, which PM Modi had said he loved, found not even a mention in the Budget.

He recalled his wish list for Tamil Nadu, which includes Metro Rail schemes for Madurai and Coimbatore and said none of the representations of the state has been considered for announcement in the Budget. PTI VGN SS