Nirmala Sitharaman has done injustice to Karnataka, says CM Siddaramaiah on budget

BENGALURU: Terming the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as "disappointing", Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the State has been totally neglected.

"As Nirmala Sitharaman is the Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, we had expected her to do justice for the state and hoped that she would protect the interest of the state, but she has disappointed and done injustice to the people of Karnataka," he said.

"In this budget Nirmala Sitharaman has given Karnataka 'Chombu' (a small, round water container). Karnataka has got nothing. Andhra Pradesh and Bihar got special grants, no other states have got grants. Because for Nandra Modi Modi to continue as Prime Minister Andhra Pradesh and Bihar's support is required," Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said no impetus has been given to Karnataka in this budget including in sectors like industries and railways, despite five central ministers being from the state.

"The budget is totally disappointing and anti-people. Injustice has been done specially to SC/STs, farmers. In order to keep Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar (happy) special grants have been given to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar....There are 28 states and eight union territories, ours is a federal state, but Karnataka has totally been neglected," he said, adding that except Andhra Pradesh no state from South India has got anything.

Noting that in the pre-budget discussion that was attended by Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on his behalf, the state had made certain requests and none of them have been met, the Chief Minister said a Rs 5,495 crore special grant was recommended to the state by the 15th Finance Commission.

It was promised that Rs 6,000 crore will be given for peripheral ring road and development of water bodies, but it has not been given, he further said. "We had also sought for an increase in disaster relief and that too has not been given. For the Upper Bhadra project the FM had herself in the last budget had said Rs 5,300 crore will be given, it has not been given, we will ask for it."

The state's demands on urban and rural housing schemes, and matching grants for backward areas development have not been met, and so does the demand for establishing an All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raichur, which is a backward area, he added.

There is nothing useful for the middle class in the budget, in terms of Income Tax, he said. The state's fight "our tax, our right" will continue. "The 16th Finance Commission is coming to Karnataka on August 28, we will represent our case vehemently before the commission."

Dubbing it as a "save-the-government" budget, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said Nirmala Sitharaman has disappointed the people of Karnataka.

"This budget by Nirmala Sitharaman is an attempt to save the NDA government at the Centre. It focuses solely on appeasing its crucial alliance partners from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. The budget has ignored states ruled by the INDI Alliance. It is a budget for the NDA alliance and it is condemnable," he said.

"The world is looking at India through Bengaluru. Karnataka and Bengaluru have created a name for themselves at the global stage. I was hopeful that Nirmala Sitharaman, who represents Karnataka, would protect the interests of the state by allocating funds for infrastructure development and for pending projects, but nothing has been done," Shivakumar added.