New Delhi: At least four Chief Ministres from opposition parties will boycott the upcoming NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27 in protest against the 'discriminatory' Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin announced the boycott during a press conference on Tuesday evening. In solidarity, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal took to social media later that night, stating that the Congress Chief Ministers including Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Telangana's Revanth Reddy, and Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, will join in boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting.
Venugopal condemned the budget terming it 'extremely discriminatory and dangerous.' He emphasised that the budget contradicts the principles of federalism and fairness that should guide the Union Government.
"The Budget presented today was extremely discriminatory and dangerous, which completely goes against the principles of federalism and fairness that the Union Government must follow."
"This government's attitude is completely antithetical to constitutional principles. We will not participate in an event that is solely designed to hide the true, discriminatory colours of this regime."
The Union Budget presented today was extremely discriminatory and dangerous, which completely goes against the principles of federalism and fairness that the Union Government must follow.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) July 23, 2024
In protest, INC CMs will be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for 27th July.…
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 a 'majority BJP', schemes have been 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 the '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 to 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 an announcement in the Budget.
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