Opposition Slams Union Budget 2026–27 as Out of Touch with Ground Realities

New Delhi, Feb 2026 : Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Union Budget 2026–27, accusing the government of being disconnected from India’s most urgent economic and social challenges. He said the budget fails to acknowledge or address the real crises facing the country and reflects a refusal to course-correct at a critical juncture.

Responding to the budget, Rahul Gandhi said it ignores core issues such as rising unemployment, weakening manufacturing growth, capital flight, falling household savings, and deepening agrarian distress. He warned that at a time of looming global economic shocks, the government’s approach appears complacent and insensitive to the struggles of ordinary citizens.

“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, summing up his criticism.

Several other opposition leaders echoed similar concerns, arguing that the budget lacks structural reforms and fails to provide meaningful interventions to revive growth, generate employment, or offer relief to vulnerable sections of society amid global economic uncertainty.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav linked the decline in the stock market to the Union Budget, accusing the BJP-led government of ignoring the concerns of common people. He claimed that the budget’s impact was immediately visible in market sentiment.

“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,” Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X.

The SP leader alleged that the budget caters only to a small, privileged 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,” he criticised the government’s economic priorities.

Akhilesh Yadav further said the budget neither mentions the common people nor reflects any genuine concern for them. At a time when inflation is rising sharply, he argued, the government’s failure to provide tax relief amounts to “outright tax exploitation.” He added that while the wealthy have been granted multiple exemptions for business and travel, unemployed youth have been left with “an empty plate of hope.”

“The middle class feels completely cheated,” he said, adding that the poor and deprived sections appear to be sinking further due to inadequate government support. He also criticised reductions in social security allocations, calling them “token formalities” rather than substantive welfare measures.

According to Akhilesh Yadav, 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.

The opposition’s criticism underlines growing political pushback against the Union Budget 2026–27, with leaders accusing the government of prioritising select interests while neglecting widespread economic distress and the needs of the majority.