‘Totally lacklustre’: Congress on Budget 2026, says no clarity on fund allocation
‘Totally lacklustre’: Congress on Budget 2026, says no clarity on fund allocation
M.U.H
01/02/202622
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called the Union Budget 2026-27 "totally lacklustre" in among the most caustic Opposition reactions on Sunday.
In his post on X, Ramesh said there was a lack of transparency and the budget couldn't live up to the hype. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not clarify budget allocations for several major programmes in her speech, he added.
In his post on X, Ramesh said there was a lack of transparency and the budget couldn't live up to the hype. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not clarify budget allocations for several major programmes in her speech, he added.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also reacted with disappointment. “We got very few details. There were three-four headlines. But we were waiting for the All India Institute of Ayurveda. Where is it?” he said.
Kerala is set for elections this year.
Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said “We wanted this in Kerala. We have had a long tradition of Ayurveda. But we didn't hear Kerala's name. We heard the names of fishermen and coconuts — that could be Kerala – but when they spoke of ship repair, they mentioned Varanasi and Patna's names, not Kerala.”
He added, "Perhaps there are more details in the budget document. I have yet to read it. There were very few details in the speech though."
Nirmala Sitharaman asserted in her speech that, presenting her ninth consecutive Union Budget, that the policy document is driven by "yuva shakti" (youth power) and based on “kartavyas” or duties.
She proposed seven high-speed rail corridors, new dedicated freight corridors, and the operationalisation of 20 national waterways over the next five years as part of the budget. The proposed routes include Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, and Varanasi-Siliguri. Together, they will link India's financial hubs, technology centres, manufacturing clusters, and emerging cities through faster, cleaner mobility.
