Opposition MPs stage walkout to protest Union Budget 2024 in Parliament
On Wednesday, both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha started the sessions on a tumultuous note as Opposition MPs protested against the Union Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman a day earlier.
In the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman addressed the chamber, stating that it is not feasible to mention every state in the Budget. This statement was not received well as the only two states mentioned were the strongest allies of the Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the recently concluded 18th Lok Sabha elections.
During her speech, several Opposition members briefly walked out in protest before returning to their seats.
The decision to protest was solidified during a meeting of the leaders of the INDIA bloc at Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Tuesday evening.
This high-level meeting included prominent leaders including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress deputy leaders Pramod Tiwari and Gaurav Gogoi, NCP (SCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, DMK leader TR Baalu, JMM leader Mahua Maji, AAP leaders Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh, CPI(M) John Brittas, and Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh.