Hyderabad, Feb. 1 -- Telangana Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu on Sunday criticised the Union Budget, stating that it ran contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and weakened the principles of cooperative federalism.

Referring to Article 1 of the Constitution, which defines India as a "Union of States", the Minister said national development was inseparable from the financial strength and autonomy of the States. However, he alleged that this constitutional principle had been ignored in the present Budget.

In a statement, Sridhar Babu expressed concern that Telangana, which contributes over 5 per cent to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was not mentioned even once in the Budget speech. He described the omission as deeply disa...