Budget 2024: BJP offers 'special package' to keep Nitish, Naidu happy

PM Narendra Modi with Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. (Courtesy: PTI photo)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech on July 23, assured the two key allies that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi now intends to walk hand in hand.

Around 20 minutes into her speech, the Finance Minister began announcing a bouquet of schemes for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, a slew of which were sought by the two main allies in meetings preceding her Budget 2024-25 speech.

In fact, she announced the formulation of a plan, called 'Purvodaya', which will be for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country. It will cover Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

"This will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat," she stated.

It needs to be mentioned that in the East, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to wrest power in West Bengal from Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), and has since evolved as the principal opposition party in the state.

Except Jharkhand, it is in power in Odisha by itself, and with allies in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, in meetings held in the national capital since the formation of the new government at the Centre, Nitish Kumar has been seeking funds for building nine new airports, seven medical colleges, two power projects, among others, said sources.

And today, among the schemes announced for Bihar were power projects, including setting up of a new 2,400 MW power plant at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district. This will be taken up at a cost of Rs. 21,400 crore. New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar will also be constructed, the Finance Minister has assured.

Similarly, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had sought funds for the development of Amaravati as the capital city of the state and also for an irrigation project. Since the division of the state, Hyderabad has been the capital of Telangana.

Together, say sources, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh had demanded a total of Rs. 480 billion in additional funds for the financial year ending March 2025.

In Bihar, the Centre has assured support to development of an industrial node at Gaya on the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor. This corridor will catalyse industrial development of the eastern region, the minister stressed.

"The industrial node at Gaya will also be a good model for developing our ancient centres of cultural importance into future centres of modern economy. This model shall showcase 'Vikas bhi Virasat bhi' in our growth trajectory," said Sitharaman.

Again, the Union government will support development of road connectivity projects in Bihar, which include the Patna-Purnea Expressway, Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs, and also an additional two-lane bridge over the river Ganga at Buxar at a total cost of Rs. 26,000 crore.

Meanwhile, an additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided and the requests of the Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited, she assured.

In her Budget Speech, the Finance Minister has also told the southern state that the Union government "has made concerted efforts to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act".

Recognising the state's need for a capital, the Centre will facilitate special financial support through multilateral development agencies. In the current financial year Rs. 15,000 crore will be arranged, with additional amounts in future years, she asserted.

Sitharaman also stated that her government is fully committed for completion and financing of the Polavaram irrigation project. This project, she iterated, is the lifeline for Andhra Pradesh and its farmers which will also facilitate the country’s food security.

Funds will be provided for essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads in Kopparthy node on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Orvakal node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

An additional allocation will also be provided this year towards capital investment for economic growth.

In keeping with the state's requirements, the Centre will provide grants as per provisions for backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North Coastal Andhra.

Both allies had their eyes on the Budget presentation this year with the respective leaders having their commitment towards the electors of their states. Despite pressures, the Modi government retained all the key ministerial berths after the last Lok Sabha elections. This, with the BJP depending heavily on the two key NDA allies for numbers. It has also managed to keep Naidu and Kumar from insisting on a 'special status' for their respective states. In its place, the Centre agreed for providing certain 'special package' to assuage the allies.

In fact, Naidu had earlier parted ways with the NDA on mainly the question of a special status. His return this year was being seen with apprehension. Almost in a similar way, Kumar has flip-flopped his way back once again and was expected to up his ante this time.

The Prime Minister would need the support of the allies in general, and these two key components in particular. The BJP has 240 MPs in the current Lok Sabha which is a little over 44% of the House's total strength of 543. Thus, it will require the support of Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which has 16 members in the Lower House of Parliament and his Bihar counterpart Kumar's Janata Dal (United), which has 12 representatives.