Delhi Budget not presented, AAP accuses Centre of blocking it
The finance minister claimed that the Union home ministry had written to Delhi chief secretary refusing to approve the Budget, but the letter was not forwarded.
The Delhi government did not present its Budget on Tuesday as the Aam Aadmi Party accused the Centre of blocking it. The Budget will now be presented on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, saying that it was for the first time in 75 years that a state Budget has been stalled, reported PTI.
“Why are you upset with Delhiites?” Kejriwal wrote. “Please don’t stall Delhi’s Budget. With folded hands, Delhiites urge you to pass their Budget.”
Unidentified officials in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs told PTI that the Centre asked the Delhi government to clarify why advertisements had been allocated more money than infrastructure and other development initiatives.
In a statement on Monday, Delhi Finance Minister Kailash Gehlot claimed that the Centre was spreading falsehoods about the Budget.
“Nearly Rs 22,000 crores have been allocated for capital expenditure next year, whereas the allocation for advertisements is only Rs 550 crore, which is similar to that of last year,” he claimed. “The concerns raised by MHA are irrelevant and seemingly done only to scuttle the Budget for next year of Delhi government.”
The finance minister said that the Budget had been sent to the Union home ministry for its approval on March 10. The home ministry refused to approve the Budget and sent a letter on the matter to the Delhi chief secretary on March 17, Gehlot claimed in his statement. He alleged that for “mysterious reasons”, the chief secretary did not send the letter to the Delhi government till March 20.
“The file with MHA’s letter was put up to me officially only at 6 pm today [Monday] i.e. just the day before the Budget was to be presented in Delhi Assembly,” the statement read. “Subsequently, we have responded to MHA’s concerns and submitted the file back to Delhi’s LG, after CM’s approval, at 9 pm today.”
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena reportedly approved the Budget around 10.30 pm on Monday night, according to NDTV.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal on Tuesday told the Assembly that the Centre’s objection to the Budget is unconstitutional, reported NDTV.
“In the Budget, 20,000 crores was allocated for infrastructure, 500 crores for advertisement,” Kejriwal reiterated Gehlot’s clarification. “We never heard that 500 is more than 20,000... They have kept a group of illiterate people from top to bottom.”