Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam clearly puts a brake on the state’s development plans.
“I will not complain about giving more to some states, but, I will definitely speak when states like Kerala have not been considered and such a thing should not have happened as it puts a brake on the state’s foray into the future,” he said in his response to the first budget of the third Narendra Modi government.
“This is certainly a challenge to the people of Kerala. Now we will go in-depth into the budget papers and then we will again approach the Centre after trying to arrive at a consensus here,” Vijayan added.
Top leaders of the opposition Congress echoed similar views of Kerala being sidelined in the Budget.
State Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, ahead of the Budget preparations, had personally called on Union Finance Minister Sitharaman and submitted a memorandum requesting a special package of Rs 24,000 crore, but what has upset all here is that even the word Kerala does not figure in the Budget.
Vijayan also pointed out that an AIIMS in the state has been a long-standing demand and that too is not there.
But actor turned Union Minister Suresh Gopi, who won a stellar victory from Thrissur to open the BJP’s account in the state, was unfazed and when the media asked him about the state, he shot back: “Why are there no youths, women, or the fisheries sector in Kerala.”
“You (media), please read the budget and then speak,” he said. “You just take it from me… on my first visit to Kozhikode after being sworn in, I have assured that an AIIMS is coming to Kerala and you take it from me, it will come,” Gopi added.
Balagopal, however, took potshots on the Budget and said when the BJP opened its account in the Lok Sabha from Kerala, in the Budget, Kerala’s account has been closed.
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