NEW DELHI: Reacting sharply to the Union Budget 2026-27, the Congress on Sunday said the Centre had failed to address economic challenges and highlighted issues like youth unemployment, falling manufacturing and farmer distress.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the Union Budget lacks fresh thinking and does not provide concrete measures to tackle issues such as inflation, unemployment, declining savings and rising inequality. “The Modi government has run out of new ideas.
This budget raises more questions than it answers on India’s significant economic, social, and political challenges. It offers nothing for the poor. They have not presented any solution, positive suggestion, or concrete steps to control inflation,” he said.
Echoing a similar view, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the Budget is “blind to India’s real crises.” He wrote on X, “Youth without jobs. Falling manufacturing. Investors pulling out capital. Household savings plummeting. Farmers in distress. Looming global shocks—all ignored.” He also slammed the Budget for refusing course correction.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in the national capital, Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Budget fails the test of economic strategy and economic statesmanship. He sharply remarked that the government and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have discarded the Economic Survey and fallen back on their “favourite pastime of throwing acronyms at people.”
Noting that the Union budget presented this year is not a bold exercise in fiscal prudence and consolidation, Chidambaram said the revenue deficit remained stationary at 1.5%.
“There is nothing wrong with borrowing and spending. But the government should do fiscal consolidation quite rapidly and not as being done at the current rate,” he noted.
Chidambaram said the government is currently providing an average of 50 days’ employment in a year under the rural employment scheme by spending around `88,000 crore. He sought to know how it would fulfil the promise of providing 125 days of work under the VB-G RAM G Act, which replaces MGNREGA, by spending only `95,000 crore. After the months-long exercise, Chidambaram said the revised estimates of fiscal deficit had adhered to the budget estimates (4.4%). The projection for 2026-27 is that the fiscal deficit will fall by a meagre 0.1% of GDP.
Chidambaram said the Centre’s capital expenditure has fallen as funds have been cut in crucial sectors and programmes concerning the common people. “Where does this Budget create jobs and tell young people about jobs?” he asked. He further listed over 10 challenges identified by the Economic Survey and experts that the Budget did not address. These include the penal tariffs imposed by the US that have created stress for manufacturers, especially exporters, and protracted trade conflicts.
Highlights farmer woes, unemployment
Rahul Gandhi said the Centre had failed to address youth unemployment, falling manufacturing, farmer distress & other challenges.