E-Paper
Hooda calls Budget hollow, disappointing
Hooda said, “This budget has completely failed to meet the expectations of the common man. Nothing has been done to provide relief from inflation, and no exemption has been given in income tax. While tax is being collected on cryptocurrency, the government is not clarifying whether it is considered legal or illegal.”
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday termed the Union Budget 2025-26 as “discriminatory” towards Haryana, calling it completely “hollow and disappointing”.
In a statement, the leader of Opposition said, “Haryana has been left empty-handed in the budget and the common man, farmers, labourers, and villagers have received no relief.”
Hooda said, “This budget has completely failed to meet the expectations of the common man. Nothing has been done to provide relief from inflation, and no exemption has been given in income tax. While tax is being collected on cryptocurrency, the government is not clarifying whether it is considered legal or illegal.”
“Looking at the percentage of GDP spent on education, after the removal of the cess in 2002-03, the total expenditure was 2.3%, which has now decreased to only 1.1%—less than half. Similarly, in 2017, the target was to spend 2.5% of the GDP on health, but currently, it is below 1%. Budget cuts have been made in these sectors,” Hooda said.
Farming community has been ignored: Surjewala
Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala said that it is quite shocking that Haryana found “no meaningful mention or substantive allocation” in the Union Budget 2026.
“Beyond a token reference to ASI activity at Rakhigarhi, Haryana has been entirely ignored. When governance is reduced to subservience rather than leadership, Haryana is repeatedly denied its rightful share,’’ Surjewala said. The former minister said that the farming community has been “totally ignored” in the budget.
