'Budget for small elite, blind to India's crisis': Opposition unites to slam Union Budget 2026

In a series of social media posts and media responses, Opposition parties rained down on the government over the Union Budget 2026, accusing it of being disconnected from ground realities and skewed in favour of a small elite.

The criticism came even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting her ninth consecutive Budget, announced an increase in the capital expenditure target to ₹12.2 lakh crore for the financial year 2026–27, up from ₹11.2 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, which is a roughly 9 per cent increase. The government has pitched higher capital spending as a driver of growth and employment.

The Congress, however, dubbed the Budget “disappointing,” claiming that the finance minister’s speech was lacking specifics. The party argued that key concerns related to employment, inequality, and rural distress were ignored.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said in his social media post that the Budget reflected a refusal to undertake course correction amid mounting economic challenges.

“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,” Gandhi said in a post on X.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the government designs its budgets for a small elite. “What can one expect from a government from which there is no hope? This budget is made for five per cent of the people. Did the government live up to the promises it made in its manifesto?” he said while speaking to reporters in Delhi.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Modi government had run out of ideas and that the Budget failed to offer solutions to pressing economic and social challenges.

“Budget 2026 does not provide a single solution to India’s many economic, social, and political challenges. Our Annadata farmers still await meaningful welfare support or an income security plan. Inequality has surpassed the levels seen under the British Raj, but the Budget does not even mention it or provide any support to SC, ST, OBC, EWS, and Minority communities,” Kharge said.

Another top Congress leader, Congress general secretary organisation KC Venugopal, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, said the Budget was particularly disappointing for Kerala, where Assembly elections are due later this year. “For the last 10 years, promises have been made about AIIMS for Kerala, but there is no mention of it in this budget. Kerala contributes significantly to sectors like tourism, aviation, and health, yet nothing concrete has been allocated for the state,” Venugopal said.

“The announcements made, including one corridor for mineral resources, seem targeted at others. This budget is not for the common people; it is for big corporates,” he added.

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of ignoring Bengal altogether. "They have not given a single paisa for Bengal. This is a Humpty Dumpty budget," said the Bengal Chief Minister. 

“They want to destroy the economic structure of the country, the constitutional structure, the federal structure. There is too much talk and too little work,” Banerjee alleged.

In a press release, the CPI said the Budget reflected the government’s refusal to confront the real economic crisis. "The Finance Minister avoided giving scheme-wise allocations to major flagship programmes, signalling opacity and an attempt to hoodwink Parliament and the people by hiding cuts behind grand announcements."

“The Economic Survey acknowledges that India's growth is driven by domestic consumption, yet the Budget fails to stimulate demand. Rural India continues to suffer due to neglect of the social sector, while urban demand remains suppressed due to the absence of meaningful income-tax relief,” the CPI said.

The CPI further stated that the previous financial year witnessed the dismantling of MGNREGS, once the backbone of rural livelihood security, and its replacement with the contractor-driven VB-GRAM-G Act, which undermines wage employment, decentralisation, and workers’ rights.