Indore, Feb. 19 -- Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Jitu Patwari on Thursday sharply criticised the state government's budget, calling it "a jugglery of numbers" and alleging that it prioritises central schemes over state interests while pushing the state deeper into debt.
Patwari, who represents Rau constituency in the state assembly and served as a cabinet minister in the Kamal Nath government, said the budget's Rs 4.38 lakh crore size masks a fiscal deficit of Rs 78,000 crore.
"The government is unable to explain how the deficit will be met in the future. This is no public interest budget but one of debt and confusion," he told UNI. He added that nearly half of last year's budget remained unutilised, while the regime took an...