New Delhi: Under attack from the Opposition for what it called the ‘Kursi Bachao Budget’ for favouring only Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget 2024-25, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Tuesday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) finance ministers also did not name a majority of states in their budget speeches.
Taking on Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his repeated demands for a caste census, she asserted that Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi were against reservation. She also said that “charity begins at home”, and that there was not a single Scheduled Caste (SC) member among the nine trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and among the five trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.
Sitharaman cited a number of Budget speeches from when the UPA government was in power to demonstrate that many states had been left out each time. In 2009-10, 26 states were not mentioned, she said.
“I have looked up Budget speeches since 2004. The Budget of 2004-2005 did not name 17 states. I would like to ask the members of the UPA government at that time: Did money not go to those 17 states? Did they stop it? As many as 17 states were not named in the Budget speech of 2004-05, 18 not named in 2005-06, 13 not named in 2006-07, 16 not named in 2007-08, 13 not named in 2008-09, 26 not named in 2009-10,” the finance minister said Tuesday in her response to the discussion on the Budget in the Lok Sabha.
She added, “Did the UPA government ignore these states by not mentioning their names? The interim budget of FY15 ignored 26 states. Did people say states were ignored?”
Countering Gandhi’s remark on the ‘halwa ceremony’, a tradition initiated in 2013-14 by the then finance minister, and which has been followed since, Sitharaman called it an ‘emotional and sentimental matter’. Rahul had questioned the absence of OBC, tribal and Dalit officers in the halwa ceremony.
“When there was a printing press on Minto Road, the staff used to go there and did not come out until the Budget was presented; since then, the halwa ceremony has been taking place. Even today, that system remains intact. In India, it is a tradition to eat sweets before starting any good work. Earlier one had to stay there for eight-nine days, now for four-five days,” Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha.
“This halwa ceremony became a photo event in 2013-14 during the UPA regime when the then finance minister went inside the Budget Press and distributed the Halwa. Why didn’t the leader of the Opposition ask the then FM how many SC, ST and OBCs are there? Why didn’t he cancel that halwa ceremony then?” she added.
‘Charity begins at home’
Accusing former PMs of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty of being against reservation, Sitharaman said, “In a letter dated June 27, 1961, former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru expressed his reservations about the tradition of caste-based quotas and privileges. ‘I dislike any kind of reservation, more particularly in service. I react strongly against anything which leads to inefficiency and second-rate standards’, he wrote. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi coined a slogan: ‘Na Jaat Par Na Paat Par, Mohar Lagegi Haath Par.’”
“In an interview to journalist Alok Mehta in March 1985, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi said, ‘No promotion of idiots in the name of reservation’ and that promoting ‘idiots’ in the name of reservation would harm the entire country. And Congress says that the BJP is against SCs, STs and OBCs,” she said.
The finance minister also attacked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and alleged that funds allocated for SCs and STs were used by the state government for other purposes. Of the Rs 9,980 crore allocated in the state budget for SCs and STs, the Karnataka government utilised Rs 4,301 crore for other purposes, she said.
Without naming the Opposition, Sitharaman said there was a conspiracy to tarnish India’s image and deter foreign investors, and said ‘hard working entrepreneurs’ were being made villains. “There is a conspiracy going on to portray India unsafe for foreign investors,” she said. “Efforts are being made to create such a situation that even a spark will lead to a lot of conflict.”
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also read: ‘2 states got pakora & jalebi, rest have empty plates’ — Kharge slams budget, Sitharaman hits back