'Needs of all states taken care of': BJP rejects Cong's 'discrimination' charge against Budget
The BJP today rejected the Congress charge of the Union Budget being "discriminatory" towards opposition-ruled states and asserted that every state and section has been taken care of by the Modi government.
Participating in the general discussion on the budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP from Tripura Biplab Deb said the NDA will be in government till 2047 and will take India to newer heights, while making the country number one economy in the world.
"I think the time has come for the PM to take some good advice from and follow our CM MK Stalin. When MK Stalin became the CM of Tamil Nadu, he said - I will work not only for the people who voted for me but also for the people who did not vote for me, it is my duty. Today, the PM is not working for the people who voted for his party but only for the parties which are supporting him," DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said in the Parliament today.
4:33 PM
'Poll over, think about country now': Tamil Nadu CM Stalin to PM Modi
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin today Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to keep taking “revenge” against those who defeated the BJP in the recent elections.
4:26 PM
Copying is not prohibited in this House: P Chidambram
Congress Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram took a "please, copy some more" jibe at the BJP. "...Will be very happy to support you (the BJP), if you take those ideas. Copying is not prohibited in this House... in fact, copying is encouraged and rewarded," the former finance minister said.
4:23 PM
'Budget is MoU between PM Modi and Bihar, Andhra CMs': Congress MP Jebi Mathur
"We cannot even call it a budget. What was presented yesterday was a MoU between PM Modi and the CM of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. The budget was presented to the two states. When this government is on crutches, these two states are supporting it. It is a total attack on the federal structure of the Constitution. That's why the entire INDIA alliance protested in one voice," Congress MP Jebi Mather stated today.
3:39 PM
Parliament LIVE news: Congress leader KC Venugopal slams Budget for failing to reflect national sentiment
"The Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) is misleading the House. The Budget has to reflect the sentiment of the entire country which is lacking in yesterday's Budget. This is why the opposition is protesting," Congress MP KC Venugopal said today.
3:31 PM
Nearly 1,200 reserved category candidates appointed as IAS, IPS, IFS officers in past 5 years
As many as 1,195 candidates from reserved and backward categories have been appointed as IAS, IPS and IFS officers in the past five years, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Of these, 233 officers were appointed in 2018, 231 in 2019, 223 in 2020, 250 in 2021 and 258 in 2022, it said in a written reply.
"Recruitment to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) are done through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in accordance with the relevant rules," Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said.
2:50 PM
Either jail or 'jahannum' for terrorists: Union minister Rai on J-K terror attacks
Terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir will either land in jail or be sent to 'jahannum' (hell), Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday while asserting that the Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism.Rai was replying to a supplementary question from Congress MP Pramod Tiwari. Terrorist activities witnessed recently will soon end, the minister said. "They (terrorists) will not succeed in their design," he added.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Priyanka Chaturvedi, Arvind Sawant and other opposition leaders join theprotest led by YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at Delhi's Jantar Mantar against alleged deteriorating law and order situation in Andhra Pradesh.
2:07 PM
MSP legal guarantee should be given to farmers, says Rahul Gandhi
Farmer leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Parliament House complex today and had discussions on the issues being faced by the farmers. "In our manifesto, we have mentioned MSP with a legal guarantee. We have done the assessment and it can be implemented. We had a meeting right now where were decided that we will talk to the other leader of the INDIA alliance to put pressure on the Govt that MSP legal guarantee should be given to the farmers of the country," the Congress leader stated after the meeting.
1:06 PM
You don't get an opportunity to name every state of this country while presenting Budget, says FM Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today slammed the Opposition's claim that the budget was 'discriminatory' and said that it was an 'outrageous allegation' and a deliberate attempt by the opposition parties led by the Congress to give the people the wrong impression that their states were not allocated funds or schemes.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the farmer leaders he had invited to meet in their office were not allowed to enter the parliament premises. “Because they are farmers, maybe this is the reason they are not allowing them in," Gandhi said.
12:14 PM
Budget LIVE update: 4 Chief Ministers to boycott NITI Aayog meeting over ‘discriminatory’ Budget
At least four chief ministers, including three from the Congress, are set to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27 in protest against the “discriminatory” Union Budget.
12:09 PM
This Budget is discriminatory and deceptive, says Congress chief Kharge
"This Budget is discriminatory and unfair. They (BJP) are saying that they allotted special package to Bihar to build roads but roads are built anyway. All of this is deceptive," says Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
11:44 AM
Parliament news update: Opposition MPs walk out from the Rajya Sabha
Parliament news: INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday over the alleged discrimination against opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget. Besides Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, several MPs of the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, DMK and the Left joined the protest held on the steps leading up to the Makar Dwar of Parliament.
The decision to stage a protest was taken at a meeting of floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties at the 10 Rajaji Marg residence of Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh were also present in the meeting. "The concept of a budget has already been destroyed by this year's Union Budget. They have completely discriminated against most of the states. So general sentiment of the INDIA bloc meeting was we have to protest against this," Venugopal told reporters after the meeting.
Later, in a post on X, Venugopal said, "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." In protest, Congress chief ministers will be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27. The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday criticised the Union Budget 2024-25, accusing the Finance Minister of making hollow promises.