Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshman said that Karnataka has been ignored in the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament on Saturday.
The Congress leaders displayed empty vessels at a press conference convened in Mysuru on Sunday to convey their disappointment over the Union Budget.
Mr. Lakshman told reporters that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had not allocated any funds or sanctioned any projects for Karnataka. He also questioned Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar over the pending railway and road projects for Mysuru.
He said the MP only submits letters to the Union Minister and has the photographs published in the newspapers, but no project has been taken forward. Even the proposed expansion of Mysuru airport is stuck in limbo even though the MP issues statements about bringing aircraft from different parts of the country to Mysuru.
In contrast, in Bihar where Assembly elections are due later this year, the Budget has announced a package of ₹78,000 crore, Mr. Lakshman said, while pointing out that the survival of the BJP government at the Centre depends on the support of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh’s Telugu Desam Party.
Also, the BJP government has the habit of announcing special packages for election-bound States. Even though the BJP government had announced a special package of ₹46,000 crore and ₹43,000 crore for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh last year respectively, it is not known whether the projects were implemented or not.
Mr. Lakshman also lashed out at the BJP MPs from Karnataka for their “lack of concern” for the development of the State. Unlike other states like Tamil Nadu, where the Opposition and ruling party were united in seeking welfare projects for their State, the BJP MPs in Karnataka were guided only by their agenda to bring down Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he said.
Mr. Lakshman also expressed concern over the mounting debt in the country given the loans taken by the BJP government over the last ten years. The size of India’s Budget was ₹14 lakh crore during the last year of Manmohan Singh’s regime, which ended in 2014, but the size of the 2025-26 Budget is ₹50.45 lakh, including a whopping ₹16 lakh crore or 32% as loan.
The country’s debt due to loans taken since Independence in 1947 to 2014 was ₹53 lakh crore, but during the ten years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has taken loans amounting to ₹147 crore, taking the country’s total debt to ₹205 lakh crore, he said.
Published - February 02, 2025 08:48 pm IST
