“As Tamil Nadu gears for the assembly elections, we expected at least this year that the state would be visible to the eyes of the Union BJP government and our voices will be heard by them. However, this year too, the BJP government has delivered only disappointment,” he said in a statement.

“The demand of various states, including Tamil Nadu, to increase the share of total tax revenue distributed to the states from 41% to 50% has been ignored this time too,” Stalin said.

“Moreover, despite the 16th Finance Commission’s attempt to properly recognise the contribution of states to India’s economic growth, it is regrettable that Tamil Nadu, which has the second largest economy in the country and contributes significantly to the country’s economic growth, has been given a lower percentage of financial allocation than other developed states. It is learnt that the tax allocation for Tamil Nadu will be a paltry 4.097% for the next five years. As per preliminary estimates, this will result in a financial loss of about ₹5000 crore per year compared to other comparable states… In the past seven years, It is very worrying that Tamil Nadu continues to be ignored in the distribution of funds, a situation that has not been rectified even in the 16th Finance Commission,” added the chief minister.

Stalin also highlighted the lack of mention of ₹3,548 crore proposed allocation for education, which he said was due to non-compliance with the three-language policy.

On the Jal Jeevan Mission, the chief minister said the state government has been insisting the Centre for release of ₹3,112 crore under the project. But the allocation for the scheme was cut down to ₹7,000 crore in the revised estimates. “This looks like an attempt to completely stall the project”, he remarked.

Finance minister Thangam Thennarasu mirrored the chief minister’s comments. ““There are no clear announcements for the state’s basic development needs, employment, education, healthcare, industrial investment, and other key sectors. The legitimate demands put forward by the Tamil people for many years have once again been ignored,” Thennarasu said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate in the state, hailed the Budget, specifically its focus on infrastructure and SME growth, which he said would help the state greatly. He pointed out that the Integrated Programme for the textile sector would offer much-needed modernisation support to the traditional textile belts of Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode and also welcomed establishment of a Rare Earth Corridor in Tamil Nadu and the creation of specialised Biomedical Parks.