In a strong condemnation of the Union Budget 2024, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday labeled the budget a ‘betrayal’ of the state and announced his decision to boycott the upcoming Niti Aayog meeting and a meeting of Chief Ministers convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on July 27.
Speaking to the media at the DMK headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’ on Tuesday evening, CM Stalin expressed deep disappointment with the budget, accusing the BJP-led central government of neglecting Tamil Nadu. He criticized the budget for favoring only a few states that contributed to the BJP’s majority, questioning the commitment of the central government to even those states.
āThere is no guarantee that even those states would receive the funds. The BJP government might forget the states the same way it announced schemes and refused to allocate funds for Tamil Nadu,” Stalin alleged.
Stalin highlighted the absence of any special projects for Tamil Nadu in the budget, despite his earlier submission of a list of required schemes for the state. He specifically mentioned the need for Metro Rail projects in Madurai and Coimbatore, which were ignored in the budget announcement.
āA few days ago, I flagged a list of schemes required for the state. The union finance minister has ignored them completely. The budget of a country must address the concerns of all states. But Nirmala Sitharamanās budget has no justice. Both Tamil Nadu and the Tirukkural, which PM Modi had said he loved, found not even a mention in the Budget,” he said.
Stalin also pointed out that while the Union government had announced a Metro Rail scheme for Tamil Nadu, no funds had been allocated for the Chennai Metro Rail Phase-2 project, accusing the central government of deceiving the state.
In response to the budget neglect, CM Stalin declared his intention to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting on July 27, stating that it