India Budget 2026 Reactions LIVE: On 1 February, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget 2026. The Budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year (April 2026 to March 2027) was presented on a Sunday, marking a first in independent India.
The FY27 Budget comes amid a complex global environment. FM Sitharaman said on Sunday that the government has opted for reforms over rhetoric, PTI reported.
Follow the live updates with Mint for real-time coverage of the Budget speech and income tax announcements.
Here’s what politicians said about the Union Budget 2026
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the Union Budget for 2026-27 is “blind to India’s real crises”, and highlighted how the youth are without jobs, manufacturing is falling and farmers are in distress, PTI reported.
“Youth without jobs. Falling manufacturing. Investors pulling out capital. Household savings plummeting. Farmers in distress. Looming global shocks – all ignored,” the Congress leader said.
“A Budget that refuses course correction, blind to India’s real crises,” Gandhi said in a post on X.
As reported by ANI, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “…What they said about three corridors is absolutely garbage of lies. Blatant lies. It is already in process and we have started working there. In the Jangalmahal Jangal Sundari project in Purulia, for this economic corridor, ₹72,000 Crores are going to be invested…They have not given a single paisa to Bengal. Only one tax is there, GST. They are taking away our money and saying big things that they are giving us money. It is our money…So, they don’t have any moral authority to run the Govt and finish the country like this. They want to destroy the economic structure of the country, the Constitutional structure of this country, the independent agencies…They talk too much but do less work…”
Congress MP Amar Singh said, “… They are already being partial with Punjab… They are misusing the majority… They ended MGNREGA, which was for the labourers.…”
TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha said, “This is a ‘phenku and lapetu’ budget…This Budget is not for Viksit Bharat. It doesn’t address employment or the country’s current debt. The Union govt owes money to many states. Which scheme was brought for the farmers’ welfare? This budget doesn’t deserve to be given a rating.”
As reported by ANI, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday, “We got very few details. There were 3-4 headlines, but we were waiting for the All India Institute of Ayurveda. Where is it? 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 names but not Kerala. This is a little surprising. But perhaps there are more details in the budget document. I have yet to read it. There were very few details in the speech though.”
On market crash after Union Budget presentation, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, “What can I say? Can we be happy if they are disappointed?”
As reported by ANI, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav said, “Jis sarkar se koi ummid…What expectations can we have from the budget being presented by the govt, from whom we don’t have any expectations?… In the last few budgets we have seen, it was for only 5% of the people. The government should assess if it has fulfilled all the promises it had made.”
“Govt trying to snatch away financial cover…”: Sachin Pilot
Congress leader Sachin Pilot said, “For the past several years, we have seen that the Budget is a way for the Govt to express its intent…Despite being in power for years, I think the BJP Govt has focused on issues which are not very impactful on the ground. The Govt has formed a new law to almost scrap MGNREGA. They say that they are reforming it, but the reality is that on average, 35 days of MGNREGA are being used in this country.”
Pilot added that the decisions that used to be taken in villages earlier, in Panchayats, wherein Sarpanch and public representatives used to demand money, there was no shortage of Budget.
“Now, the Govt has decided the Budget and the work will be imposed by Delhi. So, this Govt is trying to snatch away the financial cover of the poor. They had drafted the 3 black laws with the same stubbornness…We would want that in the coming financial year, they provide relief to the poor, to farmers, to youth and the middle class,” he added.
Congress MP Imran Masood says, “We expected that farmers and youth would receive something, but everyone got an empty box… They did not even talk about the industry that was destroyed because of 50% tariffs, about which Trump constantly talked…”
Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, “This is a budget that lays the foundation for ‘Viksit Bharat’ 2047. This is Budget is for future-ready India. It inspires people to work with dedication. The focus has been on the manufacturing sector in this Budget. Many schemes have been announced to push forward our fastest growing economy in the world…Inland waterway, high speed rail corridors, development of tier2 and tier 3 cities, reskilling of youth were focused upon on in this Budget.”
“They (the Opposition) have a broken record which plays after every Budget. Do they not want development of MSMEs?…”
In her speech, Union Finance Minister Sitharaman announced that the target for capex will be raised to ₹12.2 lakh crore for FY27 from ₹11.2 lakh crore earmarked for the current fiscal year.
She also announced a slew of measures to boost infrastructure in the country, including in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
What expectations can we have from the budget being presented by the govt from whom we don’t have any expectations?
We are anxious to see what kind of schemes they have in mind to generate more jobs in this country for young people of India.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2026 announcement, the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Economic Affairs released its Economic Survey 2025-26 on Thursday, 29 January, offering a detailed insight and analysis into how the Indian economy has performed over the current financial year so far and outlining the outlook for the upcoming fiscal year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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