Budget 2024 Live Updates: ‘Kursi bachane ke liye’, alleges Kharge on Budget as Oppn walks out of Rajya Sabha

Budget 2024 Live Updates: In response to the Opposition protest, Chairman Jagadeep Dhankhar said that disruption is weaponised as a political strategy then democracy will be seriously threatened

Union Budget 2024 Live, July 24: The Opposition in Rajya Sabha walked out on Wednesday a few minutes after the session began, in protest against the ‘discriminatory’ Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday. Congress president and Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the budget was only prepared to make a “few people happy”.

Earlier in the morning, Kharge, who along with the INDIA bloc MPs was staging a protest in the Parliament premises, said that they were fighting against the anti-people budget. “This Budget is anti-people, no one has got justice. They have talked about special package but special status has not been given. This is a deceptive budget and injustice to the people,” he said. The MPs raised placards such as ‘We want India budget not NDA budget’ and ‘NDA betrays India in Budget’. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the ruling dispensation, saying that they could not take any concrete step regarding inflation and instead of giving MSP to farmers, “support price was given to the alliance partners who are saving their government.”

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin stated that he would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for July 27, alleging that the Centre has “ignored” Tamil Nadu in the Budget. Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states such as Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will also boycott the meeting. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also criticised the Union Budget as “anti-poor and politically biased,” accusing the central government of neglecting the state’s interests. She said the budget aimed at appeasing NDA allies rather than prioritising the welfare of the masses.