The Opposition and the government on Wednesday faced off in Parliament over the Union Budget as the former attempted to corner the latter over allegations that preferential treatment was given to two allies critical for the survival of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration.

A day after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh budget in Parliament, members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha and alleged that the government had given out sops to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh while ignoring other states.

The government hit back, dismissing the allegation.

The budget was debated in both Houses on Wednesday, with senior Opposition leaders such as the Congress’s P Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor and Gaurav Gogoi, the Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Dayanidhi Maran tearing into the government, which was defended by Sitharaman, her cabinet colleague Kiren Rijiju, former Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb, and senior leader Bhartruhari Mahtab.

Members of the INDIA bloc also staged a protest inside the Parliament premises, calling the budget discriminatory and demanding equitable treatment for all states. “Many didn’t get justice in the Union Budget. We are fighting for justice,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

In the 85-minute budget speech on Tuesday morning, Sitharaman listed several schemes and sops aimed at Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, two states governed by allies Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party. Sitharaman announced a cluster of projects and packages – roads and highways, airports, flood control, irrigation schemes, tourist hubs, industrial nodes and power projects – totalling roughly ₹59,000 crore for Bihar, which goes to the polls next year.

For Andhra Pradesh, the finance minister announced ₹15,000 crore for the construction of the state capital Amaravati and additional funds if required, completion of the Polavaram dam project and two industrial nodes.

In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Kharge said that barring states ruled by NDA members, major provinces received nothing in the budget.

“In the budget presented yesterday, nobody got anything. Everyone’s plate was empty and only two plates had pakoda and jalebi. Neither Tamil Nadu, Kerala or Karnataka got anything. Neither Maharashtra or Punjab or Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh. Even Delhi did not receive anything nor did Odisha. I have not seen this kind of budget until now. This budget has been presented only to keep some people happy and to save their chairs,” he said.

Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar interrupted him, asking him to let the finance minister respond, but Kharge didn’t relent. “Mataji bolne mai toh expert hai mujhe maloom hai (she is an expert in speaking, I am aware of that).”

“I condemn all this. In the states where opposition parties have been elected, you have neglected. You have not provided anything to them. How will development happen if there is no balance? We will protest,” he said, before leading the opposition parties in walking out of the House.

After the walk-out, Dhankhar said that democracy will be seriously threatened if disruption and disturbance are weaponised as a political strategy. “Honourable members, discussion on the budget was listed today and I gave the floor to the Leader of the Opposition in the expectation that rules will be followed. I find it has been used as a ploy and a strategy,” he said.

Sitharaman hit back after Kharge left the House. “It is unfortunate that the Opposition, particularly a senior leader, Mallikarjun Kharge, stood up to say what he heard of the budget yesterday…The Congress party has been in power for a very long time in this country and they have presented so many budgets that they would know clearly that in every budget, you don’t get an opportunity to name every state of this country,” she said.

“I’ll take this example: between the vote on account which was presented on February 1 this year and the full budget that was presented yesterday for this year, I have not named very many states. The Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to set up a port at Vadhvan, but Maharashtra’s name was not included in the budget yesterday. Does this mean that Maharashtra feels ignored?” she asked.

In the Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram criticised the government’s schemes for job creation – the government announced five schemes with an aggregate spend of around ₹2 lakh crore for roughly 41 million young people – and said picking and choosing states for relief was destroying federalism.

“I don’t grudge at all that you are giving relief to Andhra Pradesh, or Bihar, but what about the other states? We are a federal country. This is the death knell of federalism if you pick and choose among states,” he said, initiating the discussion in the Upper House.

He also underlined the importance of tackling inflation, he asked if the proposed employment-linked incentive (ELI) was mooted as the existing production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes failed to generate employment, and alleged that Sitharaman lifted the idea from the Congress manifesto.

On Tuesday, the government announced it will pay one month’s wage up to ₹15,000 in three instalments to every new person entering the workforce, incentivise employers up to ₹3,000 a month for two years towards their EPFO contribution for new employees, direct incentives to both employer and employee for their EPFO contribution for the first four years, in a bid to propel jobs for young people.

In the Lok Sabha, Banerjee said the budget was “anti-people” and aimed at “appeasing and compensating” NDA partners. “The budget has no vision and agenda. There is no relief to the common people and the budget has neglected 140 crore people of the country,” he said.

The government hit back with ruling party benches dismissing the Opposition’s allegations.

“I am of the opinion that barring a few sops for allies, its policy priorities suggest no change in the government’s approach, and the approach that was there in the interim budget has been magnified in the present one,” Mahtab said. “We have a long-term goal to achieve and we have to reach 2047 as Viksit Bharat… Many opposition members have already spoken as if the government of the party in power is totally ruffled because of the (election) results. The government is totally unruffled and is continuing its long-term approach,” he said. Deb echoed him, asserting that the NDA will take India to newer heights.