CPI (M) stages protest against Union Budget, accuses BJP of favoring their corporate friends

The opposition CPI(M) on Saturday organized mass rallies and protest meetings in Agartala and other parts of  Tripura  to show their protest against Union Budget-2024 .

In Agartala, CPI(M) organized a large protest rally and passes through different thoroughfares of Agartala and a protest meeting at Paradise Chowmuhani area of the city, where leader of opposition (LoP) Jitendra Chaudhury and other party leaders like Manik Dey and Pabitra Kar addressed the gathering and strongly criticized the Union Budget.

Later, addressing the gathering, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury  accused the  central BJP government  for a strategic move to appease  the BJP’s coalition partners and termed the entire budget as a budget for the corporate and friends of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Strongly criticizing the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chaudhury said that the 2024-25 Union Budget is totally anti-farmers, anti-youths and an appeasement budget for two states Andhra Pradesh and Bihar and a budget for corporate appeasement.

Earlier, CPI(M) had announced a two-day protest against the alleged neglect of the State in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, terming it a serious matter.

Chaudhury alleged that the Centre has ignored even the important projects demanded by non-BJP ruled states and the budget’s neglect of states is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

The Left party expressed concern over the reduction in allocations for central schemes such as the Prime Minister's Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the Prime Minister's Nutrition Abhiyan, and MGNREGA, warning that these cuts would adversely affect the lives of ordinary people of the country.

Criticizing the BJP, the CPI(M)  state secretary pointed out that the saffron party's promise to resolve all issues after winning a Lok Sabha had proven false. "The budget has continued the traditional stance of neglecting states.

The CPI(M) called for a strong protest against the budget's neglect and urged the people of the state to join in raising their voices for the rightful share of central funds and development projects.

While, addressing the gathering, former Minister Manik Dey  condemned the allocation of   funds of Rs 26,000 crore to Bihar and Rs 15,000 crore to Andhra Pradeshand claimed that depriving other states of the country, these provisions are intended to secure political support from Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party to safeguard the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also accused the BJP of preparing the budget to benefit its allies depriving other states.

The Budget-2024 is detrimental to farmers, youths, and the middle class, imposing additional taxes on essential items and making economic difficulties worse for the common people, said Dey.

He also claimed that in the Union Budget-2024, there is no proposal for infrastructure development of the country and it will damage the existing economy of the country.

Former Minister Pabitra Kar also addressed the gathering and claimed that the third Modi government is again trying to sell out the properties of the country to their corporate friends and urged people to show their united protest against the Modi government. He also claimed that more miseries are coming due to corporate appeasement policies of the BJP government.