Jaipur: Launching a scathing attack on the BJP government in the Centre, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that the Union budget is against poor, farmers and is also directionless.
In a statement issued on February 1, Gehlot in his reaction to the budget termed it ‘disappointing’ in its entirety.
The Chief Minister also said that election going states and union territories were given the most attention in the budget, which he said focused mostly on West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. Elections are to be held this year at all the aforementioned places.
Gehlot also said in the statement that despite all the parliamentarians from Rajasthan being members of NDA, the budget was discriminatory towards the state. He cited the eastern Rajashthan canal project (ERCP) as an example wherein a project dedicated to Rajasthan was not given national project status in the budget.
The Chief Minister said that the budget was aimed to provide relief to big industrialists and that through this the government reflected its image as that of a ‘suit boot ki sarkar.’
Criticising the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the Rajasthan Chief Minister also said that after the Coronavirus outbreak, finances of states are in very bad shape and he had hoped that the government would take measures to address this in the budget.
However, Gehlot said that despite the central government claiming that there has been a record collection of the GST, the states are yet to receive their share from the Centre.
