DMK to hold statewide protest against Union Budget for ignoring TN

The Union Budget, which was presented on Tuesday, “spewed hatred” on Tamil Nadu despite the southern state playing a crucial role as a financially strong state that contributes to India’s growth, the DMK said.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government on Thursday slammed the “step motherly treatment by fascist BJP” towards the state and announced that they would go on a state-wide protest on July 27 against the Union Budget.

The state has doubled down on its position that the budget presented by the BJP-led Union government has betrayed and avenged states such as Tamil Nadu (ANI)

The Union Budget, which was presented on Tuesday, “spewed hatred” on Tamil Nadu despite the southern state playing a crucial role as a financially strong state that contributes to India’s growth, DMK’s statement stated. “But, the budget has been generous to some states,” the DMK said. “This has been done just to save the NDA government.”

With this, the state has doubled down on its position that the budget presented by the BJP-led Union government has betrayed and avenged states such as Tamil Nadu, which ensured that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got no seats in the Lok Sabha elections, which concluded this June, from the state.

Chief minister MK Stalin on Wednesday ‘advised’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would be isolated if he ran the government according to his “political likes and dislikes”. The budget 2024 is meant to save the BJP’s rule by favouring coalition partners in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar and not the Indian nation as promised by Modi, Stalin said.

“You said, ‘The election is over, now we have to think about the country.’ But yesterday’s #Budget2024 will save your regime, not India!” Stalin said in a post on X on Wednesday and shared a video of INDIA bloc’s MPs protesting in the Parliament against the budget. “Run the government in general. Don’t be bent on avenging those who have yet defeated you. I am bound to advise that if you run the government according to your political likes and dislikes, you will be isolated.”

Stalin on Tuesday announced that he will boycott the NITI Aayog meeting on July 17 convened by the Prime Minister because the Union government had “boycotted” Tamil Nadu in the Union Budget. He said: “I’ve taken an important decision. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget has betrayed Tamil Nadu. This BJP government is not ready to do any good for those who have voted for them for the third time…Tamil Nadu is neither in BJP government’s thoughts nor action. This is injustice…I was preparing for the Niti Aayog meeting but since Tamil Nadu has been boycotted in the budget, I’ve decided to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting.”

The BJP on Wednesday accused Stalin of trying to mislead people into believing that only the states mentioned in the budget speech will receive benefits. “Stalin is vindictive,” said BJP’s state president K Annamalai, a day ago. He “has been afraid to go to Niti Aayog meetings for the last two years citing flimsy reasons…”