Budget ‘biased’, Congress CMs to skip NITI Aayog meet

New Delhi, July 23

Congress Chief Ministers will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting on July 27 to protest the “discriminatory” nature of the Budget proposals presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today.

The Opposition parties have alleged that the Budget was heavily lopsided in the favour of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, owing to the Modi government’s dependence on the TDP and JD(U), respectively, the ruling parties in these two states.

“The Budget presented today was extremely discriminatory and dangerous, which completely goes against the principles of federalism and fairness that the Union Government must follow,” KC Venugopal, Lok Sabha member and Congress general secretary (organisation), said.

“In protest, INC CMs will be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting”, Venugopal wrote on X. “This government’s attitude is completely antithetical to Constitutional principles. We will not participate in an event that is solely designed to hide the true, discriminatory colours of this regime,” Venugopal said.