Delhi Budget: CM Kejriwal appeared miffed at the practice of having to send the Delhi Budget to the Centre for clearance. He also said that the Centre stalled the clearance of the Delhi Budget to satisfy its ego.
The AAP government in Delhi is all set to present the Delhi Budget on Wednesday after the Union Home Ministry approved the document. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the Budget will be presented ‘without any change’.
CM Kejriwal appeared miffed at the practice of having to send the Delhi Budget to the Centre for clearance. He also said that the Centre stalled the clearance of the Delhi Budget to satisfy its ego.
The Delhi Budget was scheduled to be presented on Tuesday but was delayed after the MHA sought clarification on the allocation of funds for infrastructure and advertisements. BJP said that the Centre had sat on the clarifications for three days and then blamed the government for ‘cheap publicity’.
Kejriwal said that the Delhi government wants to work and not fight and that it is tired of fighting. “It serves no one. We want to work together with the prime minister, we do not want any tussle,” he said,
The CM said that the Centre had raised four queries. He said that they replied to these questions without any change in the Budget, which was approved by the Centre. “It proves that their ego was satisfied,” said Kejriwal.
Taking a dig at the Centre and LG office’s objection that the budget for infrastructure was less than the budget for advertisement, Kejriwal said, “They said advertisement allocation was higher than that for infrastructure. Uneducated people have been sitting from top to bottom. Which is more – Rs 20,000 crore for infrastructure or Rs 500 crore for advertisement?”
But he also said ‘better late than never’ and expressed satisfaction over MHA’s approval of the Delhi Budget.
“He has been saying that the Centre has blocked a State’s Budget. This is patently false. Delhi is a Union Territory and not a State and therefore it is fully a part and parcel of the Government of India. Moreover, the Budget has not been blocked,” said a source in the LG office.
