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Informist, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Sunday said the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) provides "not a single solution" to India's many economic, social, and political challenges.

 

He said that while farmers still await meaningful welfare support or an income security plan, the Budget offered no solutions to the slump in exports, heightened tariff risks, or the growing trade deficit. Neither did it touch upon the plunging rupee.

 

"Manufacturing: no revival strategy; stuck at 13%. Where is Make in India?  Jobs: no serious plan for employability for our youth or increasing participation of women in workforce. What is the outcome of earlier internship and skill development schemes?" Kharge asked.

 

On urban infrastructure, Kharge, who is also leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the government has only repeated earlier statements but the delivery is missing as cities remain unliveable. "When will we have 'smart cities' or even liveable cities?" he said. He also remarked that there was "not one word" in the Budget on the allocation for the new law that has replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

 

Commenting on the Budget, former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram said the officially announced inflation numbers and the ground realities in terms of bills for household expenditure, education, health care, and transport do not match. "The Centre's capex (capital expenditure) has fallen from 3.2% of GDP in 2024-25 to 3.1% in 2025-26. The fiscal deficit for FY27 will reduce by a meagre 0.1%--to 4.3% from 4.4%," he said.

 

Chidambaram also wondered if Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was "even aware" of the figures of rising household borrowings and declining household savings. "The last I checked, household borrowing had touched an all-time high of around 51.7%. But the finance minister didn't even mention these numbers," he said.

 

He also pointed out that the "uncertain outlook" for flow of foreign direct investment to India and the "persistent outflow" of foreign portfolio investor funds for the last several months did not merit a mention in Sitharaman's Budget speech.

 

Social activist and Swaraj India founder Yogendra Yadav said the Budget "gives a clear indication" that villages, farmers, and agriculture are now outside of the government's priorities.

 

"For the first time, no mention of farmers in the budget. Data shows slashed spending on farming, rural development, crop insurance, and fertiliser," Yadav wrote on social media platform X. "The government is saying, 'grow almond, walnut. If you can't, we don't need you'."

 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her state had got nothing from the Budget. The All India Trinamool Congress president slammed the Narendra Modi government for allegedly renaming and repackaging schemes conceptualised and announced by previous governments.

 

"The much-hyped freight corridor announcement... the Durgapur–Dankuni–Amritsar freight corridor was announced in 2009 when I was the railway minister. What they (the Centre) said... are blatant lies," she said.

 

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre as the stock market slid after the Budget was presented. "The result of BJP budget is out: markets have tumbled," Akhilesh posted on X. He said the Budget is meant only for the top 5% of the country's population.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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