New Delhi: Financial assistance announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday while presenting her seventh budget has come as a shot in the arm for the longevity of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government at the Centre.
The BJP, which fell short of numbers, had to rely on 28 lawmakers of the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in addition to a clutch of other parties to form the government at the Centre for the third time.
As it was expected, the union government accommodated the wishes of its two main alliance partners, the TDP and the JDU, which run alliance governments with the BJP in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Both the partners had sought special category status or special packages to meet the infrastructure needs in their respective states.
Bihar has secured ₹26,000 crore allocation for road connectivity projects, new airports and sports infrastructure. The state will also get ₹11,500 crore for flood mitigation projects as it was one of the major demands by the state government.
