Chandigarh: On Friday, Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda launched a scathing attack on the central government over the Union Budget 2024-25, claiming that Haryana has been neglected. He warned that the people of Haryana will respond accordingly in the upcoming state assembly elections.

"As per Article 1 of the Constitution, Bharat is a union of states. Is talking about Haryana wrong? Does the Union budget not consider Haryana as part of the country? If you forget about Haryana in the Union budget, then the people of Haryana will also forget you after three months," said Hooda in Parliament.

Earlier in the week, Hooda had expressed his disappointment, stating that the budget focused on Bihar and Andhra Pradesh while neglecting several other states, including Haryana. He described the budget as a complete disappointment, lacking measures to address record unemployment and rising inflation. Hooda criticized the budget for failing to provide relief to significant sections of the population, such as the poor and farmers. He pointed out that Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were mentioned multiple times, with allocations made for projects in these states.

With Haryana's assembly polls approaching later this year, Hooda emphasized that if the BJP forgets Haryana, the people of the state will forget the BJP's symbol, the lotus. He stressed that Haryana did not receive any mention or allocation in the budget, and the Finance Minister did not acknowledge the state.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the first Union Budget of the Modi 3.0 government. In her seventh consecutive Union Budget for 2024-25, Sitharaman outlined nine key priorities aimed at fostering economic growth and creating ample opportunities. Significant announcements were made for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, further fueling Hooda's criticism of the budget's regional bias.

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