Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday presented the first budget of Modi Government 3.0. In this budget, substantial allocations have been made for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, key states that supported the NDA in forming the government. Additionally, significant announcements have been made for Himachal Pradesh. However, there have been no announcements for Maharashtra, a state that is soon to have assembly elections.
Maharashtra is set to hold its assembly elections later this year. With elections just a few months away, there were high expectations for significant announcements for Maharashtra in the budget. Yet, the Finance Minister's entire budget speech did not include any mention of Maharashtra. Despite Mumbai being the financial capital of the country, the budget contained no announcements related to it. In contrast, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh received numerous promises and allocations.
In protest of neglecting the western state in the budget, MPs of Maha Vikas Aghadi protested outside the new parliament building after the budget was presented.
Moreover, several opposition leaders slammed the BJP and central government for ignoring Maharashtra in the budget.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray took to X to ask what was Maharashtra's fault.
"I can understand the BJP wanting to save its government and giving Bihar and Andhra Pradesh a huge sum of the budget. But what is Maharashtra’s fault? That we are the largest taxpayer? What did we get against what we contribute? Was Maharashtra even mentioned once in the budget?" Thackeray asked.
"Why does the BJP hate and insult Maharashtra so much? This isn’t the first time, through the entire past decade of BJP’s government, we have seen this bias against Maharashtra. It’s a shame that despite unconstitutionally forming a government and running the most corrupt regime in our state, Maharashtra gets nothing in return," he went on to add.
AAP's Preeti Sharma Menon said the BJP has not given anything for Maharashtra since it knows that it's going to lose in the upcoming assembly elections.
"Clearly @narendramodi feels BJP is going to lose forthcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. That’s why they have nothing in the budget for our state. Shame!" she wrote on X.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar criticized the budget, accusing it of lifting many announcements from the Congress' Lok Sabha manifesto.
"Despite Maharashtra contributing the highest taxes in the country, the state has received nothing substantial from this budget. The budget is a clear case of plagiarism from the Congress' NYAY manifesto," said Vijay Wadettiwar, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, as he sharply criticized the central government's budget.
Speaking about the budget, Wadettiwar stated, "The central government has not made any special provisions for farmers in this year's budget. Cotton, orange, rice, onion, soybean, and milk-producing farmers of Maharashtra have been neglected by the central government, which is no longer a secret. This proves once again that the central budget is anti-farmer. Therefore, the people should ask the Mahayuti, which praises the central government, what they have brought for Maharashtra. The chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, who frequently visit Delhi under the pretext of development work, need to clarify whether they discussed funds with the central leadership or engaged in political calculations. The people will question how often the Mahayuti government will trample Maharashtra's pride. During the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party had proposed a scheme for the first job for unemployed youth in its manifesto. We had promised internships under this scheme. Today, the Union Finance Minister has made the same announcement. On one hand, they criticize the opposition for the so-called 'revdi culture,' and on the other hand, they have copied our schemes in this budget. The central government remembers Maharashtra for votes and taxes but holds back when it comes to allocating funds."
NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe also targeted the center over the budget, claiming it was designed to save the coalition government.
"This year's budget is a desperate attempt to keep the government afloat," commented MP Amol Kolhe.
'Ghalin lotangan vandin Bihar, dolyane pahi andhra maze, durlakshoon rashtra upekshoon Maharashtra, sarkar vachven mhane Namo' ("I will bow and worship Bihar, saw Andhra with my own eyes, neglecting the nation and ignoring Maharashtra, Namo says I will save the government") said MP Amol Kolhe in a satirical poem, criticizing the budget for distributing largesse to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh while neglecting Maharashtra.
"This year's budget is a desperate attempt to save the government. The attempt is to fulfill the demands of JDU and TDP, providing alms to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. There is no reason to be unhappy about them receiving more funds, but at the same time, Maharashtra, which contributes the highest revenue in the country, has been sidelined," he added.