THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has flayed the budget presented by Finance Minister K N Balagopal, terming it a repetition of hollow promises without considering the state’s fiscal situation.
Finding fault with the reduction in allocation for several projects, Satheesan said the finance minister has presented the LDF government’s farewell budget as the cut in allocation will make the government dysfunctional.
“The government will become fully dysfunctional as the allocation is insufficient to even cover the outstanding liabilities of various departments. The LDF government is pushing the state to a dark abyss,” Satheesan said.
The Leader of Opposition also criticised the 50% hike in land tax, adding that the trimming of plan funds and the land tax hike were anti-constitutional. He said projects worth Rs 15,000 crore have been trimmed in financial year 2024-25. The funds were assigned after the assembly passed the demands for grant and the appropriation bill, which was ratified by the governor, he said. “Reducing that fund via an executive order is a violation of Articles 204 and 205 of the Constitution,” he said.
Satheesan also mocked the finance minister, saying the “Plan B” that the latter often mentioned was in fact about cutting plan funds.
“The LDF rule has pushed the state back by 20 years,” he said.
Opposition flays government over economic review
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan criticised the government for not tabling the Economic Review in the assembly a day before the budget. Just before Finance Minister K N Balagopal rose to present the budget, Satheesan raised a point of order and said such a precedent was being followed in legislatures and the Parliament.
Balagopal said it was on the basis of the Business Advisory Committee’s decision that budget was presented on the first day of the reconvening of the current session, leaving little scope for it to be tabled a day earlier.