Rahul Gandhi slams Union Budget, says it ignores India’s real crises

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday criticised the Union Budget 2026-27, accusing the Centre of ignoring unemployment, manufacturing slowdown and agrarian distress. Other opposition leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, said the Budget lacked reforms, relief and concern for common people.

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday criticised the Union Budget 2026-27, accusing the government of being disconnected from the country’s pressing economic and social challenges.

In the response to the Budget, Gandhi said it had failed to address key issues confronting the nation, including unemployment, slowing manufacturing growth, capital outflows, declining household savings, and agrarian distress.

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“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,” Gandhi said in a post on X.

Other opposition leaders have also criticised the Budget, saying it lacks structural reforms and meaningful interventions to revive growth, generate employment, and provide relief to vulnerable sections of society amid global economic uncertainties.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav linked the stock market decline to the Union Budget, accusing the BJP of ignoring the concerns of ordinary citizens.

“Here is the result of the BJP’s Budget — the share market has crashed with a bang. We had said earlier that the question was not whether the stock market would open on Sunday, but how much further it would fall,” he said in a post on X.

He alleged that the Budget caters to only a small section of society. “This Budget is meant for just five per cent of the people of India,” he said, claiming it was designed to “secure commissions and benefit the BJP’s own people.”

Describing it as “an invisible ledger of BJP-style corruption”, Akhilesh Yadav criticised the government’s economic priorities.

The SP chief said it neither mentions the common people nor reflects any concern for them. “At a time when inflation is rising uncontrollably, the failure to provide tax relief amounts to outright ‘tax exploitation’,” he said.

He added that while the wealthy have been given “ten kinds of exemptions” for business and travel, those facing unemployment have been left with “an empty plate of hope”.

“The middle class feels completely cheated,” he said, adding that the poor and deprived sections of society appear to be sinking further due to inadequate support.

He also criticised reductions in social security, calling them “token formalities” rather than meaningful measures.

Akhilesh Yadav further claimed that farmers, labourers, workers, traders and small shopkeepers have found no relief in the Budget.

“Even with a telescope in hand, they cannot find anything meant for them. This is a deeply disappointing and deplorable Budget,” he said.