Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her record eighth consecutive Union Budget on Saturday. As the Budget speech commenced, Samajwadi Party MPs shouted slogans and created a ruckus, demanding the House first discuss Mahakumbh stampede. Some MPs, including those from Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, conducted a symbolic walk-out of the Lok Sabha. “For us, the data of people who died in the stampede in Maha Kumbh is more important than the budget data,” Akhilesh Yadav said after the Budget.
Akhilesh Yadav’s reaction on Budget 2025
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says, “Maha Kumbh comes after 12 years. For us, the data of people who died in the stampede in Maha Kumbh is more important than the budget data. The government is not able to tell how many people died, went missing or got injured. The death toll that has been given by the government is false… What arrangements have you made? This government says that we are a party of Hindus but they are not able to make arrangements for this biggest festival of Hindus…Is this your definition of a Viksit Bharat that people will die in a stampede…”
Mayawati’s reaction on Budget
Former UP CM and BSP National president Mayawati said, “Due to the tremendous impact of inflation, poverty, unemployment in the country, along with the lack of essential basic amenities like roads, water, education, peace and well-being, the life of people in India with a huge population of about 140 crores is quite troubled, which also needs to be resolved through the central budget.”
“But the current BJP government’s budget, like that of the Congress, seems to be more about political interests and less about the people and the country. If this is not the case, then why is the life of the people continuously troubled, miserable and unhappy under this government? The dream of a ‘developed India’ should also be in the interest of the Bahujans,” she added.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s reaction
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi says, “This is the weakest budget in the last 10 years…” He further says, “We want a discussion on the Kumbh stampede in Parliament. INDIA Alliance walked out and we have not yet received any information on whether the discussion will take place or not. We want a discussion so that the truth can come out.”
Harsimrat Kaur calls it ‘anti-farmer’ Budget
Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal says, “Look at the names of the states – Bihar, which is going to elections. Only Bihar, Bihar, Bihar. There was no mention of Punjab. Farmers are sitting in protest for the past 4 years over legal guarantee for MSP. What did they announce for farmers? Makhana Board. This was an anti-farmer Budget. Farmers who are fighting for their rights were not heard, this is sad…”
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s reaction
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram says, “Look at the details before we can really give an intelligent comment about the budget. Because the budget is always the devil is in the details and really can’t make up our minds one way or the other merely by hearing the finance minister’s speech. There has been a slew of new proposals but one must also see what happened to the proposals announced in the previous budget. Some grand schemes were announced in the previous budget as well. So what is the status of them? And now another slew of schemes have been announced, which will all, even in their own words, only get fulfilled well after the culmination of this parliament in 2029. So we’ll have to see the efficacies of all these schemes, the previous schemes in this… It’s quite natural that every time a state comes up for election, it seems to be, it gets a disproportionate amount of attention. But that seems to be the political direction in which budgets are made these days.”
The first part of the Budget session will continue till February 13 and the two Houses will again meet on March 10 after recess with the session concluding on April 4.
