Budget 2025: Aaditya Thackeray Criticises Budget for Ignoring Maharashtra, Calls It an 'outright insult'

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray criticised the state budget on Saturday, pointing out the absence of any reference to Maharashtra, the largest contributor to the nation's tax revenue. He termed this omission as an insult to the state. Thackeray also expressed his disappointment over the lack of mention regarding the long-standing demand for a new airport in Pune, alleging that the BJP government has consistently neglected Maharashtra since 2014.

Not a single mention of Maharashtra is an outright insult to the state of Maharashtra- the state that contributes the highest taxes, including one of the highest GST consistently. While the state doesn’t get its due and full GST in time, neither do we get funds for development, the BJP has consistently neglected Maharashtra in all its budgets since 2014, said Thackeray in a post X.

Thackeray accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of claiming to promote infrastructure growth while, in reality, fostering a contractor-based economy. He alleged that favored contractors are awarded projects to build "horrible" roads, citing the Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Nashik, and Mumbai-Ahmedabad highways as examples of poor-quality construction.

Budget 2025:

• The bjp that spoke of abolition of income tax, around the years 2012-14 before election, atleast is now getting more liberal and negotiating with tax payers on slabs and rebates (with a lot of conditions and hidden clauses).

This is the power of the citizens…

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) February 1, 2025

Are we getting punished for electing the bjp’s 100+ mlas in all 3 state elections?  What is our sin that we are treated so badly by the bjp and its union government?  A mention of UDAAN to invest in 120 new airports. Patna airport was mentioned, but Pune’s new airport that has been a consistent demand, and despite the civil aviation minister (MoS) being an MP of Pune, no mention of the same.  Also which 120 airports? What about those that started and then shut down in the past 10 years?