Sabka Saath par sirf Andhra aur Bihar ka vikas?

The Opposition parties on Wednesday held a protest demonstration on Parliament premises and also protested inside both Houses against the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, saying it had discriminated against non-NDA ruled states. They also raised slogans inside both the houses on the issue and staged a walk-out on the issue.

- Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Before the start of the day's proceedings, the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties had staged a demonstration on Parliament premises accusing the Centre of discriminating against Opposition ruled states in the Budget. Congress parliamentary party leader Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also participated in this protest. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra were also seen.

The protesting MPs held placards which read "Treat all states equally" and charged that "NDA betrays INDIA in Budget: Give us out fair share; strengthen the States".

When the Lok Sabha met for the day, the Opposition members again raised the issue of budgetary allocation.

However, Speaker Om Birla did not allow a discussion and said the Question Hour would continue. He also accused the Opposition of trying to disrupt the proceedings in a "planned manner". On not being allowed to raise the issue, the Opposition members staged a walk-out.

In the Rajya Sabha, too, the issue was raised by the Opposition and Congress president and LoP Mallikarjun Kharge charged that the Budget sought to appease a few parties and states in order to "save the chair". "The Budget did not benefit any state. The plates of all states remained empty except for two," he said, in a veiled reference to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar for which special packages were announced in the Budget.