NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Budget session of the Parliament, bringing a mixed reaction from political parties across the spectrum.While presenting her ninth consecutive Budget, the finance minister announced that the capital expenditure target will be increased to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for the financial year of 2027, up from Rs 11.2 lakh crore allocated in the current fiscal year.Further, Sitharaman said that Centre will provide Rs 1.4 lakh crore to states as tax devolution in the next financial year, while net tax receipts are estimated at Rs 28.7 lakh crore.The total size of the Union Budget has been pegged at Rs 53.5 lakh crore.How political parties reacted to the Union BudgetBharatiya Janata PartyHailing the announcements, BJP claimed that the Union Budget focuses on every sector of the Indian economy. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “We hope to take forward the Prime Minister’s vision of capitalising on India’s growth potential. You have seen a growth of close to 7.5 per cent, a complete control on inflation coming down to 1.7 per cent, a huge jump in capital expenditure from 2 lakh crore to almost 11 lakh crore this year to 12 lakh crore next year.” “So it’s a Budget that is going to empower India, is going to power India, and is going to take India on its trajectory,” he added.Union minister Kiren Rijiju said, “This Budget represents ‘Reform Express’ for ‘Viksit Bharat’. I am very satisfied with the Budget. All these announcements are for the common man in the country. What can be done if the Opposition doesn’t think of itself as the common people?”“Will the infrastructure developed won’t be used by the Opposition? Are they not Indians, that they are not happy? If the criticised this Budget, it is only because of politics. The focus in this budget was on growth and development,” he added.BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad also welcomed the announcements and said, “The focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and promoting corporate partnerships is a fresh approach, and we welcome it.”Shiv SenaNDA partner Shiv Sena also praised the Union budget and said it id positive for taxpayers, manufacturing and industries impacted by US tariffs.Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora said, “It is important to assess the budget in the context of current global and domestic economic conditions marked by instability, wars, and trade pressures on India. Keeping this in mind, the budget is positive for three reasons: relief for honest small taxpayers and protection from harassment; strong support for manufacturing, especially MSMEs, benefiting workers and youth; and relief for industries impacted by US tariffs, including textiles and seafood exports.““Overall, the finance minister has effectively turned global challenges into opportunities for India,” he added.Lok Janshakti PartyLJP chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan said that this Budget lays a strong foundation for a developed India“Today’s budget has emphasised on infrastructure, rural infrastructure, urbanisation, and self-reliance… This is a budget that lays a strong foundation for a developed India,” Chirag Paswan said.“The budget presented today by our government is for the second quarter of the 21st century. This quarter holds great significance for us when we talk about Viksit Bharat. The new quarter will eventually turn Bharat into a Viksit Bharat,” he added.CongressMeanwhile, Congress dubbed the Union Budget as “disappointing”. The grand-old-party claimed that the finance minister’s speech was “fairly short” and “lacking specifics.”Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a social media post on X, said, “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,” he added.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the “Modi government has run out of ideas” and claimed that the Budget offers no solutions“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.“The Finance Commission’s recommendations will have to be studied more, but they do not appear to provide any relief to State Governments which are under severe financial stress. Federalism has become a casualty,” he added.KC Venugopal said that the Budget was disappointing for Kerala where assembly elections are scheduled this year.“This budget is a total disappointment for Kerala. For the last 10 years, promises have been made about the 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.Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also said that the budget offered little reassurance to the middle and lower-middle classes, further accusing the government of missing Kerala from the budget address.“I think, by recent years’ standards, it was a fairly short speech and seemed to have lots of subheadings but very few specifics. So it’s very difficult to know what to think. On the big-picture issues, there was nothing there for the middle class and the lower middle class. There was nothing there for the states,” Tharoor said.“In fact, fiscal devolution remains unchanged at 41 per cent, and many states do not have enough money to fulfil their own obligations to their citizens and voters. That has become a genuine concern,” he added.Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also criticised the Union Budget, calling it “insipid and lacklustre”. In a post shared immediately after the budget speech ended, the Congress leader 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.”He further wrote, “It was totally lacklustre. The speech was also non-transparent since it gave no idea whatsoever of budgetary allocations for key programmes and schemes.”Samajwadi PartySamajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at the Centre and said that the “Budget is beyond understanding.”“If things continue like this, we will have to make jewellery by plating brass over iron. This budget is beyond understanding. The basic issues—education and health—have been ignored,” Akhilesh said.“If we truly want to see the dream of a developed India, then we must allocate much more budget to the education sector. This is an incomprehensible budget,” he added.SP MP Dimple Yadav also said that the Budget had nothing for women or youth.“There’s nothing much in the Budget. Earlier, entire family used to sit together and watch the Budget, however, there is nothing for women, youth in this Budget. We want the government to increase the budget on education, healthcare, agriculture… however, this Budget has nothing for these sectors,” she said.All India Trinamool Congress TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee targeted the centre and accused it of not allocating “a single paisa to Bengal.”“They have not given a single paisa to Bengal. Only one tax is there, GST. They are taking away our money and talking. It is our money. What they are collecting from Bengal, they are not giving our full funds. We will get about more than two lakh crores from the central government. So they don’t have any moral authority to run the government and to finish the country like this,” Mamata said.“They want to destroy the economic structure of the country, the constitutional structure of this country, the independent agency including the infrastructural facilities, the economy, the social sector, the economic sector, federal sector. All is been vanished. Only talking too much and less work. What they do? Only they use some jugglery of words… You have to give the advantage to the people who is common people can enjoy the facilities,” she added.TMC MP Saugata Roy said that the finance minister did not get any chance to bring in new things and only previous schemes were repeated.“This budget is nothing. The Finance Minister did not get any chance to bring in new things; only previous schemes were repeated. None of the states got any thing specially West Bengal,” Roy said.
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