Budget Controversy: Politics vs Economics

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram criticizes the Union Budget 2025-26 as politically driven, focusing on Delhi elections and neglecting the poor. He accuses Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of improving the fiscal deficit by cutting capital expenditure and stresses growing economic challenges for the bottom 50% of the population.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has labeled the Union Budget 2025-26 as a politically driven agenda, aimed at winning the Delhi elections, rather than addressing the needs of the poor and the lower half of the population.

In a detailed discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of claiming a false sense of economic improvement by sacrificing crucial capital expenditures and grants-in-aid to states, a move he called 'bad economics.' He highlighted that this approach ignores the dire economic plight of the country, particularly the escalating inflation rates in food, education, and healthcare sectors.

Chidambaram further criticized the budget's lack of focus on the poorest demographic, pointing out that while income tax reliefs targeted the middle class, no measures were taken to support the hundreds of thousands dependent on programs like MGNREGA. He emphasized that fundamental issues such as falling household savings and rising debt were not addressed.