Opposition parties slam Union Budget, term NDA govt. bereft of new ideas

Mr Gandhi said solving the economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift. "A Band-Aid for bullet wounds! Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift," the Congress leader said in a post on X.

Asserting that the government has no new ideas, the Congress leader and former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram said that Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is walking on the "worn-out path" and is not willing to break free as the Congress governments had done in 1991 and 2004.

The Opposition party said the takeaway from the Union Budget 2025-26 is that the BJP is wooing the tax-paying middle class and the Bihar electorate. Addressing a press conference on the Union Budget, Mr Chidambaram said the announcements will be welcomed by the 3.2 crore tax-paying middle class and the 7.65 crore voters of Bihar. But for the rest of India, the Union finance minister had no more than soothing words, punctuated by the applause of the BJP members led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

"There is nothing to cheer about the fact that the government has improved the fiscal deficit from the Budget estimate of 4.9 per cent to the revised estimate of 4.8 per cent. It was achieved at a huge cost to the economy," he added.

Mr Chidambaram said it is evident that neither the Union finance minister nor the Prime Minister cares for the advice of the chief economic adviser. "He gave sensible advice in the Economic Survey. 'Get out of the way' was his call to the government. On the contrary, the Budget is full of new schemes and programmes, many of which are beyond the capacity of this government. I counted at least 15 new schemes or programmes and 4 new funds,” he said.

Trinamul Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee claimed that the Union Budget 2025-26 has "nothing" for West Bengal, alleging that the state continues to remain "deprived" under the BJP-led NDA rule at the Centre.

"The Union Budget has nothing for Bengal. As in the past during the BJP's reign, there has not been enough allocation for the state in this Budget. Our (TMC) MPs have been vocal and have sought a rise in the allocation of funds for Central projects. We have demanded new projects for Bengal, but the state remains deprived," he said.

Accusing the 12 BJP MPs from Bengal of "doing little to take up the state's cause", Mr Banerjee said, "They did nothing to help the state and its people economically."

Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Saturday dubbed the Union Budget as aimed at getting political mileage in states like poll-bound Bihar and said the income-tax exemption does not encourage savings.

DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said the Union Budget appeared to be aimed at certain states. The last Budget made generous allocations to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and states including Tamil Nadu were ignored, he alleged. "This time round, since the election is due in Bihar this year, they are targeting Bihar and announcing schemes for that state in the Budget itself. I have doubts if the BJP is doing this to come to power in Bihar (on its own); defeat Nithish Kumar," Mr Elangovan said.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav charged the NDA government at the Centre with indulging in "rhetoric" in the Union Budget and presenting announcements made in the past with "repackaging".

The former Bihar deputy CM, who addressed a press conference in Vaishali district, also slammed chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) is a crucial ally of the BJP, for his inability to secure a fair deal for the state. "Just look at TDP supremo Chandra Babu Naidu, who has secured benefits to the tune of Rs 1-lakh crores for Andhra Pradesh. The Budget, presented today, is silent on any such help for Bihar. We also do not know where the Rs 59,000 crores promised last year has been spent," said Mr Yadav.