New Delhi (Feb 10): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tore into the Union Budget 2026-27 during Lok Sabha debate, calling it “underwhelming” and a “squandered opportunity”—likening it to “rearranging airbags on a crashing car while assuring passengers the chassis is sturdy.”
Quoting Mirza Ghalib’s iconic couplet—”Dil ko khush rakhne ko yeh khayaal achcha hai”—Tharoor attacked the gap between rhetoric and reality. “This is headline management: promises blare like horns, budgets dazzle, but delivery is absent,” he said.
Agriculture promises drew sharp criticism: “Like modern courtships—grand vows, zero commitments.” Tharoor highlighted last year’s welfare spending failures, noting that of over ₹5 lakh crore budgeted for 53 major schemes, barely 41% (₹2.05 lakh crore) was spent in nine months. The Jal Jeevan Mission managed just ₹31 crore of its ₹67,000 crore allocation, PM Schools for Rising India spent ₹473 crore against ₹7,500 crore, and the SC Upliftment Yojana utilized a mere ₹40 crore of ₹2,140 crore. “Not governance—headline management,” he charged.
Tharoor lamented surging unemployment, stagnant wages, and rising inequality, with small businesses crushed by compliance and informal workers pushed into insecurity. Despite railway promises, stations crumble and the UDAN scheme falters. He noted 1.5 lakh schools still lack electricity amid “Viksit Bharat” rhetoric.
Government spending as a share of GDP has declined over the decade, with tax burdens shifting to individuals despite corporate profit surges. “Fiscal discipline without developmental vision leaves India constrained,” he argued.
“Viksit Bharat 2047 is admirable, but this Budget offers no pathway. Hope sold repeatedly, delivery perpetually deferred. Converting promises to outcomes is our kartavya,” Tharoor concluded.
