Opposition parties on Sunday described the Budget 2026-’27 presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as being “totally lacklustre”, opaque and disconnected from the economic challenges facing the country.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that while the Budget document needed detailed study, it was evident soon after Sitharaman’s speech that it fell “woefully short of the hype that was generated about it”.
He also criticised the speech for lacking transparency, saying “it gave no idea whatsoever of budgetary allocations for key programmes and schemes”.
Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said the Narendra Modi government had run out of ideas and that the Budget did not provide any solution to India’s economic, social or political challenges.
“‘Mission Mode’ is now ‘Challenge Route’,” Kharge said. “‘Reform Express’ rarely stops at any ‘Reform’ Junction. Net result: NO policy vision, NO political will.”
He said that inequality had worsened in the country and that the Budget did not address the concerns of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Economical Weaker Sections and minority communities.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, declined to comment on the Budget initially, saying he would speak in Parliament on Monday, ANI reported.
In a social media post later, he described the Budget as “blind to India’s real crises”, citing unemployment among youth, falling manufacturing, declining household savings, investor withdrawals and farmer distress.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the speech was short on specifics and raised concerns about Kerala being absent in infrastructure and connectivity announcements, PTI reported.
He highlighted that promised projects, including an All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the state, were not mentioned.
Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav said the Budget was “beyond the understanding” of the poor and those living in villages, ANI reported.
“No jobs or employment have been given in this Budget,” he said. “BJP's budget is only for 5% of the people in the country.”
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee described the Budget as “Humpty Dumpty Budget”, The Telegraph reported.
She alleged the document was directionless and visionless, adding that it was anti-poor, anti-farmer, anti-women and anti-education.
She accused the Centre of political bias and said West Bengal had not received its due share.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleged that the Budget was “anti-people, anti-federal”.
The party said the document was “a stark testimony to the uncritical commitment of the Modi government to promoting the narrow interests of a few big business houses and the rich and the wealthy, at the cost of the working people and socially oppressed sections of society, as well as larger national economic interests”.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin said the Budget was “totally disappointing”, reported The Hindu.
“It has ignored the state’s interests, and there are no schemes for the welfare of the poor, women, farmers, and those on the margins of society,” added Stalin.
Read more on Budger 2026 here.
Also read:
- Budget 2026 key takeaways: No income tax rate changes, increased capital expenditure and more
- Budget 2026: Nirmala Sitharaman proposes hiking capital expenditure to Rs 12.2 lakh crore
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