Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday defended the Union Budget 2026–27, saying it was focused on growth and development, and urged opposition parties to refrain from what he described as political criticism of the proposals.
Responding to opposition claims that the Budget failed to address the concerns of the common people, Rijiju said the provisions announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were aimed squarely at public welfare.
“All the provisions have been made for the common people only. If those in the opposition do not consider themselves common people, what can we do?” Rijiju told reporters.
Asserting that the Budget was growth-oriented, he added, “The country is happy. I believe there is no scope to criticise this Budget. Still, if someone criticises it, it must be politically motivated.” Calling on opposition parties to adopt a constructive approach, he said, “I want to urge my friends in the opposition to welcome this good Budget. Don't play politics over it.”
Opposition parties, however, mounted sharp criticism soon after the Budget was presented in Parliament on Thursday. The Congress described the Budget as “totally lacklustre” and accused the government of overselling its impact.
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Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the Budget speech lacked clarity and failed to spell out allocations for key programmes. “While the documents need to be studied in detail, it is clear after 90 minutes that Budget 2026/27 falls woefully short of the hype that was generated about it. It was totally lacklustre,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
He also termed Sitharaman’s speech “non-transparent”, claiming it “gave no idea” of budgetary allocations for major schemes.
The Samajwadi Party echoed similar concerns, with party MP Dimple Yadav saying the Budget did not live up to public expectations. “There's nothing much in the Budget... Nothing for women and youth. We wanted the government to raise the budget for education, healthcare, agriculture... However, this Budget has nothing for these sectors,” she told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
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