Leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday refused to comment on the Union Budget 2026 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
He later shared a reaction on social media, saying the 2026 Budget was “blind” to the country's real crises.
Asked by reporters outside parliament what he thought of the budget, Gandhi said he would use the house as a platform to share his views.
“I will speak tomorrow, using the platform provided by Parliament," Rahul Gandhi said.
The Congress leader was accompanied by his sister and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, who also left without responding.
Gandhi later posted on X, listing the problems that the Budget “ignored”.
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi later posted on X, listing the problems that the Budget “ignored”.
{{/usCountry}}“Youth without jobs. Falling manufacturing. Investors pulling out capital. Household savings plummeting. Farmers in distress. Looming global shocks - all ignored. A Budget that refuses course correction, blind to India’s real crises,” his post read.
Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth straight budget on Sunday, with the government calling it a blueprint of reforms and vision for the second quarter of the 21st century.
In the Union Budget 2026-2027 speech, Sitharaman pushed for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and made a series of announcements expected to boost the economy and provide relief to consumers and common taxpayers. But the biggest takeaway was that the Income Tax slabs remain unchanged, at least until the next Budget.
Opposition reaction to Budget 2026
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has called the Union Budget 2026-27 "completely insipid" in the most caustic Opposition reaction on Sunday.
Ramesh, the Congress comms in charge, wrote on X: “Although the documents still need to be studied in detail, it became clear just 90 minutes later that, compared to the heavy atmosphere that had been built around the 2026/27 budget, it fell far short. It turned out to be completely insipid. The speech was not transparent either, as it provided no clear information regarding budget allocations for major programs 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.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the Budget 2026 had nothing to offer for her state. The Trinamool Congress boss termed the budget “anti-women, anti-farmer, anti-education”, as well as “directionless” and “visionless” with “nothing for the common man”.
Both Kerala and West Bengal go to the polls a little later this year.