Some called it a budget for only Andhra Pradesh and Bihar and social media was flooded with memes after the first Union budget of the new NDA government announced a slew of schemes and support measures for the two states governed by BJP allies.
This came following days of speculation about sops for these states.
The Union Finance Minister, for the first time in the history, has presented a Bihar- Andhra budget in the Parliament!
— John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) July 23, 2024
#Budget2024
— James Stanly (@JamesStanly) July 23, 2024
Andhra & Bihar Other States pic.twitter.com/cVKAo0xVkq
The JD-U, which has 12 MPs, has been demanding special status for Bihar for several years. The TDP, which has 16 MPs, had earlier pulled out of the NDA government over the Narendra Modi government’s refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh. For the BJP to hold power at the Centre despite its shrunk tally, support from the JD-U and TDP remains crucial. There were reports that the Modi government was facing demands from its coalition allies Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar to allot more funds to the two states.
At an all-party meeting ahead of the budget, three regional parties had repeated the demand for a special status – the JD-U for Bihar, the BJD for Odisha, and the YSRCP for Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP, which was voted out of power in the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls last month, said the TDP had compromised with the issues of the people as it was not raising the issue of special status anymore.
On Tuesday, after the budgetary announcements, the Bihar assembly session saw disruptions by the parties of the opposition alliance. RJD chief Lalu Prasad had earlier sought Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s resignation for a failure on the special status demand, with BJP leaders hitting back at the RJD and asking why it did not pursue the matter when it was in power in the state.
Bihar is set to hold assembly elections next year.
आज तक मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार ने बिहार के लिए कोई त्याग नहीं किया, उल्टा अपने राजनीतिक महत्वाकांक्षा और स्वार्थ के लिए बार-बार बिहार में सरकार को अस्थिर किया, साम्प्रदायिक राजनीति को ताकत दिया और बिहारवासियों को परेशान किया!
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) July 23, 2024
CM नीतीश ने विशेष राज्य के दर्जे के नाम पर बार-बार… pic.twitter.com/wFSzo3NJNX
The TDP, on the other hand, posted on X a list of the budget announcements for the state, crediting “Naidu’s visits to Delhi”.
అన్ని ప్రాంతాల, అన్ని రంగాల అభివృద్ధికి, కేంద్రం నుంచి భారీగా నిధులు రాబట్టిన కూటమి ప్రభుత్వం. ఫలించిన చంద్రబాబు గారి ఢిల్లీ పర్యటనలు.
— Telugu Desam Party (@JaiTDP) July 23, 2024
కేంద్ర బడ్జెట్ లో రాష్ట్రానికి లభించిన హామీలు.
1. ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ అభివృద్ధికి రూ.15 వేల కోట్ల ఆర్థిక సాయం
2. రాష్ట్ర జీవనాడి పోలవరం పూర్తికి అధిక… pic.twitter.com/TzLCNqXcCh
Then came the special assistance
Despite the budget announcing a plan called Purvodaya focussing on five eastern states, including Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, the allocation appeared to be skewed in favour of projects in the first two states.
For Bihar, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to allocate Rs 26,000 crore for highways – for routes such as Patna-Purnia and Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Vaishali-Darbhanga – and to expedite the requests of the JD-U government for loans from multilateral banks. The minister also announced proposals for new airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure.
HAM-S chief and former Bihar deputy CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had earlier sought the Centre’s help in boosting tourism in the state, was all smiles as Sitharaman announced comprehensive development programmes for Vishnupad temple in Gaya and Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya.
“Vishnupad temple at Gaya, and Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, are of immense spiritual importance. Comprehensive development of Vishnupad temple corridor and Mahabodhi temple corridor will be supported, modelled on the successful Kashi Vishwanath corridor to make them a world-class pilgrim and tourist destination,” she said.
Sitharaman also proposed more power projects for Bihar, including a 2400 MW power plant at Pir Payanti that will be taken up at Rs 21,400 crore.
“We will formulate Purvodaya for all-round development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh,” the Finance Minister said, saying that this project will focus on human resources development, infrastructure push and generation of economic opportunities in these states. The aim, she said, was to make this region an engine for attaining the goal of Viksit Bharat.
Meanwhile, for Andhra Pradesh, the minister announced that Rs 15,000 crore will be arranged in the current financial year for the state’s development and its need for a capital as part of commitments made under the AP Reorganisation Act.
“Under the Act, for promoting industrial development, funds will be provided for essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads in Kopparthy node on the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Orvakal node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. An additional allocation will be provided this year towards capital investment for economic growth.”
Grants for backward regions in Rayalaseema, Prakasam, and north coastal Andhra Pradesh have also been promised, along with a special mention of the Polavaram Dam project. It did not specify the magnitude of the funds.
Bloomberg had reported that Naidu might have asked for more than Rs 1 lakh crore allocation for Andhra Pradesh while Nitish Kumar was said to be demanding Rs 30,000 crore.
‘Last bid to save power’
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress called it the Andhra-Bihar budget and the “last attempt at saving power”.
Kursi bachane ka akhri prayas!#Budget2024 pic.twitter.com/HFpPEqisOO
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 23, 2024
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also said that special schemes had been given to Andhra and Bihar to save the government.
#WATCH | Post Budget 2024: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says "...'Sarkaar bachani hai toh acchi baat hai ki Bihar aur Andhra Pradesh ko vishesh yojnao se joda gaya hai'...They have increased unemployment in the last 10 years..." pic.twitter.com/mIRgt11Jgk
— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2024
“There is an English proverb which says that the tail wags the dog, and that's the political message of this Budget," Congress leader Manish Tiwari said. “It has political compulsions written all over it.”
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who had attended the all-party meeting, earlier said the TDP had “strangely” kept quiet on the issue of special status for Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing the media after the meeting, YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP Vijaisai Reddy had said the party had raised eight issues, with the first one being special category status for Andhra Pradesh.
“It has been our demand right from the day it was promised by then prime minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the Rajya Sabha. Even today, we demand that the special category status is the only solution. The TDP is completely ignoring the issue... it is compromising with the interests of the people of the state,” he said.
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