Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called the Union Budget 2026-27 "totally lacklustre" in among the most caustic Opposition reactions on Sunday.
In his post on X, Ramesh said there was a lack of transparency and the budget couldn't live up to the hype. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not clarify budget allocations for several major programmes in her speech, he added.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, said to reporters," I will speak tomorrow, using the platform provided by Parliament." The budget session continues tomorrow.
Ramesh, the Congress comms incharge, wrote on X: “While the documents need to be studied in detail, it is clear after 90 mins that Budget 2026/27 falls woefully short of the hype that was generated about it. It was totally lacklustre. The speech was also non-transparent since it gave no idea whatsoever of budgetary allocations for key programmes and schemes.”
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also reacted with disappointment. “We got very few details. There were three-four headlines. But we were waiting for the All India Institute of Ayurveda. Where is it?” he said.
Kerala is set for elections this year.
{{/usCountry}}Kerala is set for elections this year.
{{/usCountry}}Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said “We wanted this in Kerala. We have had a long tradition of Ayurveda. But we didn't hear Kerala's name. We heard the names of fishermen and coconuts — that could be Kerala – but when they spoke of ship repair, they mentioned Varanasi and Patna's names, not Kerala.”
He added, "Perhaps there are more details in the budget document. I have yet to read it. There were very few details in the speech though."
Nirmala Sitharaman asserted in her speech that, presenting her ninth consecutive Union Budget, that the policy document is driven by "yuva shakti" (youth power) and based on “kartavyas” or duties.
She proposed seven high-speed rail corridors, new dedicated freight corridors, and the operationalisation of 20 national waterways over the next five years as part of the budget. The proposed routes include Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, and Varanasi-Siliguri. Together, they will link India's financial hubs, technology centres, manufacturing clusters, and emerging cities through faster, cleaner mobility.
(inputs from ANI, PTI)