Union Budget: Bihar NDA leaders express gratitude after major announcements for state, opposition slams

New Delhi [India], February 1 (ANI): After Bihar took center stage in the Union Budget on Saturday, Union Minister Nityanand Rai hailed the establishment of the Makhana Board as a significant announcement and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
"This budget is for the welfare of poor, farmers and to help the middle class... This budget is such that it will generate employment opportunities. The announcement of the Makahna Board was special, and also for the projects that were announced for the region of Koshi River. I thank PM Modi and the union finance minister on behalf of the people of Bihar," he said.
BJP Bihar MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy described the overall budget as balanced, non-inflationary, and containing infrastructural incentives with numerous societal inputs that will create a balanced social lifeline.
"Also, a lot of things have been given to the state of Bihar, which the state has been lagging behind in many cases. After the 2015 package, this is a new proposal that has come to Bihar, be it airports, IITs, education, Makhana board, I think Bihar deserves what it has got... Thanks to the PM and Finance Minister," Rudy said.
Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal underlined that the budget addresses Bihar's needs.
"There is a discussion in the budget about starting an airport under the Udan scheme for Bihar, building a medical college and an expressway. Bihar has been taken great care of in the budget. The central government is helping in every way for the development of Bihar," he said.
Janata Dal (United) Sanjay Kumar Jha said that the biggest announcement for Bihar is that it will have a greenfield airport.
"It is a huge announcement. A Makhana Board will be formed, 85-90 per cent of Makhana is cultivated in Mithila area, Kosi area...There is global demand for Makhana now. Western Kosi irrigation system had been a long pending demand of the Mithila region. FM has made an announcement for this. Announcement for a food-processing institute has also been made. So, overall these announcements are very positive for Bihar...Taxation relief up to Rs 12 Lakhs is a major relief," he said.
She also highlighted the Western Kosi Canal ERM project in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar.
The Finance Minister also announced the establishment of the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management in Bihar to provide a strong fillip to food processing activities in the entire Eastern region.
However, the announcements ignited criticism from the opposition parties.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Bihar has always been deceived by the Modi government.
"In today's budget, Bihar is being treated unfairly and with negligence. What was mentioned in the previous budget has simply been repeated again. I believe this budget is anti-village, anti-rural, and anti-poor. Bihar is not benefiting from it at all," he said.
"There was talk about Greenfield airports, but there is no mention of when, where, or how they will be built, nor any budget allocation for it. It's all just 'Jumlebaazi'. In the past, the budget used to include allocations for railways, but now railways have practically been eliminated. Bihar hasn't received anything, and they don't want to give anything either," he added.
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee claimed that as there are elections in Bihar and keeping in that mind, the budget was presented.
"There is nothing for the common man in the budget. As you know that there are elections in Bihar this year, so keeping that in mind, the budget has been presented for Bihar. Everything has been given to Bihar. When the budget was presented in July 2024, everything was done for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. For the last 10 years, BJP has been in power and Bengal has not got anything, it is sad and unfortunate," he said.
Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that there was only "Bihar, Bihar and Bihar" in the Union Budget.
"Look at the names of the states - Bihar, which is going to elections. Only Bihar, Bihar, Bihar. There was no mention of Punjab. Farmers are sitting in protest for the past 4 years over legal guarantee for MSP. What did they announce for farmers? Makhana Board. This was an anti-farmer Budget. Farmers who are fighting for their rights were not heard, this is sad," she said. (ANI)