Hemant Soren. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren slammed the Centre for neglecting the State in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are silent over the dues from the Centre. He also claimed that the Centre owes ₹1.36 lakh crore to the State and demanded that its dues be paid by the Union government.

Reacting on the 2024 Budget, Mr. Soren said on X (formerly Twitter) account, “Is Hemant Soren guilty of this discrimination, Babulal Marandi ji? Centre owes us ₹1.36 thousand crore but every BJP leader including Babulal ji is silent on this issue. Give a special package to the political parties that support you and pay our dues. Raghubar Das had left behind DVC’s dues of ₹5,000 crore – which the Centre had deducted from our account without informing us and BJP leaders were clapping. Why are we being neglected despite giving 12 out of 14 MPs in 2014 -2019 and today 9 MP.”

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He also made an indirect attack on the Narendra Modi government for giving special packages to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh because Nitish Kumar led Janata Dal-(United) and Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are the key alliance partners supporting the government at Centre.

Mr. Soren further said, “Jharkhand BJP has maintained silence on the friendly Budget presented yesterday. No leader is ready to say anything and secretly admitting that nothing could be worse than this. They are also angry that Jharkhand did not get anything but not ready to say anything due to fear. The people of Jharkhand have neither any expectation nor any hope of getting their rights from such cowardly/sycophantic leaders. Jharkhand always gave the maximum number of MPs to BJP but in return we got only disrespect. Note – After this tweet, maybe their self-esteem will rise and they will show the strength to say something, but the whole expectation is of flattery only.”

Announcing a host of developmental projects in the Union Budget, Ms. Sitharaman proposed a total outlay of ₹58,900 crore for various projects in Bihar, where Assembly elections are due next year, and ₹15,000 crore for the 2024-25 fiscal for the development of Andhra Pradesh’s capital city, a dream project of Mr. Naidu.

Asked about the allegation levelled by Mr. Soren, Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Sahdev described the budget as inclusive and taking care of all sections.

He said that Jharkhand will directly benefit from the road map for the development of the Purvodaya Yojana and eastern India will also catch the pace of development like the rest of the country.

“With the continuation of funding of the Aspirational District Scheme, 19 districts of Jharkhand will continue to receive central funds directly. The development of tribal-dominated Jharkhand will accelerate with the start of the Tribal Advanced Village Scheme. Apart from this, Jharkhand will definitely get a share of all the schemes of the Centre. Mudra loan has so far helped in providing self-employment to more than 30 crore people. By increasing its limit to ₹20 lakh, small businessmen and those starting a new business will get a big benefit,” Mr. Sahdev told The Hindu.