By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 23, 2024: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, as the Union Budget was being laid out while Naveen Patnaik, the former chief minister of Odisha and leader of opposition, expressed his disappointment with the central government’s Union Budget 2024-25, stating that it neglected his state and its people.

Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the first Budget of the Modi 3.0 government and her seventh consecutive during the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Tuesday, July 23. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to ensure the ‘all-round development’ of eastern India and develop various tourist sites in Odisha as part of the Budget on Tuesday.

However, the former chief minister said: “This is a complete neglect of Odisha and her people.” Naveen pointed out that despite the BJP’s promise of granting special category status to Odisha in their manifesto, the commitment was not fulfilled, whereas special packages have been announced for other states.

In a video released by the BJD, the leader of opposition said: “BJP had put special category status in their manifesto as a promise to the people of Odisha. However, this promise had not been considered for Odisha. Whereas special packages allocating crores of funds have been announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.”

“Along with this, the demand of Odisha for revision of coal royalty which has been pending for years with the Central Government has been rejected. Because of this, the state will lose thousands of crores of revenue every year. Lots of big promises in different sectors were made to the people of Odisha during their election campaign. There is no mention of any promise being fulfilled in this Budget.” he added.

Naveen Patnaik said that despite their plea for a special package to address disaster management, their request was overlooked.

“We had requested a special package for disaster management, while similar requests of other states have been considered and they have been granted special packages for flood protection, the genuine demand of Odisha disaster management has not been considered. So, on both counts, Odisha continues to be neglected by the NDA…This Budget has been a disappointment for us, “Naveen added.

Earlier Rajya Sabha MPs from the Odisha-based party claimed they were leaving the Parliament as their state had been denied a ‘special category’.

“BJD has objected to this budget and walked out of the Rajya Sabha, strongly protesting the continued neglect of Odisha in the Union Budget. We find that the demands of Odisha have not been met. We term this Budget anti-Odisha,” party’s MP Sasmit Patra said.

The BJD spokesperson, however, said that the party had walked out “due to denial of Special Category State status to Odisha”. Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar have been asking for Special Category. The two states got additional special funds, but Odisha’s demand was not considered. Probably this is the punishment meted out to Odisha for electing 20 Lok Sabha BJP MPs out of 21 MPs from Odisha and the reward to the BJP allies from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh,” Patra added.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders from Odisha have hailed the Budget for its focus on developing the tourism sector. Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida thanked the Finance Minister and the Centre following the Budget announcements.

“For the development of Odisha, tourism is the prime sector. There are more than 400 km of coastal highways; there is wildlife, landscapes, and scenery; there are also Buddhist pilgrimage centres here, as well as tribal culture and handlooms. I welcome the announcement made by the Centre for the further development of tourism in Odisha,” she added.