File picture of BJP MP Suresh Gopi
| Photo Credit: K.K. Najeeb
The Kerala leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party scrambled to defend the Union Budget 2024-25 amidst stinging criticism that it was patently anti-Kerala and held no promise for the State.
Suresh Gopi, MP, attributed the non-allocation of an AIIMS for Kerala to the “inadequate 150 acres” allotted by the State government for the premium institute. Mr. Gopi’s high-decibel campaign in Thrissur hinged on the singular assurance of sizeable budgetary dividends, including big-ticket infrastructure projects.
The BJP’s State leadership appeared pricked by the refrain that the Union Budget ignored Kerala. The narrative of the ruling front and the Opposition about the Union Budget dominated the airwaves, triggered chyrons highly critical of the Narendra Modi government, and did not seem to augur well for the State BJP’s public image.
Former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan countered that the Union Budget promised employment for nearly four crore youths. Kerala, with its highly skilled workforce, stood to benefit the most. The Central government had pre-empted the exodus of Kerala youth to foreign nations for employment.
He termed the Centre’s decision to pay the first month’s salary of newly employed persons revolutionary. He said cancelling the angel tax for start-ups and enhancing the Mudra loan would boost Kerala’s young entrepreneurs.
Mr. Muraleedharan said Kerala should take advantage of the 50-year loan scheme offered by the Centre for the Development of States instead of relying on Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)’s high-interest borrowings from the open financial market.
Mr. Muraleedharan asked whether Kerala had properly articulated its needs to the Central government as Bihar and Andhra Pradesh had.
‘National view’
Former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Central government calibrated the Union Budget to mitigate inflation, erase poverty, generate employment and invite foreign investment. The Custom duty reductions would boost the domestic industry. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted a national view while formulating the Budget. “The Union Budget is not designed to please any particular Chief Minister,” he said.
BJP State president K. Surendran said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had laid out India’s course to being a developed nation in the Union Budget. It focussed on empowering women and marginalised sections of society. Urban development would boost the construction sector. The Budget prioritised the Fisheries and Agriculture sectors. He accused State Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal of jumping the gun by portraying the Union Budget as anti-Kerala. He said big-ticket announcements such as AIIMS were rarely reflected in the Union Budget, and such allocations would come later.
