A band-aid for bullet wounds: Government bankrupt of ideas

The Hindi saying, ‘nau sau choohe kha kar billi Haj ko chali’ (a show of piety by a habitual sinner or literally, the cat goes on a pilgrimage having swallowed 900 mice) is what this government is all about, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said about the eighth Union Budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, 1 February. Describing it as an "announcement veer" Budget, he quipped that it has turned the 'Make in India' programme to 'National Manufacturing Mission'.

“The world is discussing the AI disruption that has happened due to China’s DeepSeek. And we had earmarked Rs 552 crore in the last Budget (China devoted Rs 17 lakh crore!) to AI mission. Aghast to learn that even out of that paltry allocation, we spent only Rs 173 crore,” quipped CPI(M) MP John Brittas.

Observing that bureaucrats would be happy with this Budget, former finance minister P. Chidambaram, who presented nine Union Budgets compared to Sitharaman’s eight, asserted, “The FM is walking the worn-out path. She is not willing to break free as we did in 1991 and 2004. She is not willing to de-regulate. She is not willing to get out of the way of people, especially entrepreneurs and MSMEs and start-ups.”

“A band-aid for bullet wounds! Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift. But this government is bankrupt of ideas,” Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said.

“We do not know where the Rs 60,000 crore promised to Bihar in the last budget has been spent,” pointed out RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who felt that the Budget speech was marked by rhetoric and repackaging.

“More dialogue but not funds for farmers,” said academic-turned-activist Yogendra Yadav. He lamented the decline of allocations for agriculture from 5.95 per cent of the Budget in 2019-20 to 3.06 per cent in 2025-26.

Former West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra reacted by questioning the announcement of raising the FDI limit for the insurance sector to 100 per cent, which would pose a challenge to the public sector Life Insurance Corporation of India and other insurance companies both in the public and private sectors. Does the announcement have any link with anyone in the Central government and the international insurance lobby, he wondered aloud.  

“We didn't even hear the words 'unemployment' or 'inflation' from the finance minister today. It was a mercifully short speech (one hour 14 minutes), but she didn't mention either of those words, which is not so merciful.

"The fact is, if you have a job and earn Rs 12 lakh or less, there's every reason to be happy. However, if you don't have a job, it's unclear from this Budget where the job opportunities will come from. If you're living in Bihar and are from an ally party, you'll likely receive sops to aid your election efforts. Ironically, this is the same party that advocates for 'One Nation, One Election',” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor posted.

Congress MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, “The finance minister has announced the revision of cost norms in Saksham aanganawadi and Poshan 2.0… the FM has, however, not extended this announcement to: 1) Inclusion of breakfast in schools 2) Provision of a glass of milk, as is done in Karnataka through the Ksheera Bhagya Scheme 3) Upward revision in honorarium given to Anganwadi workers”.