Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring described the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as “quite disappointing” on Sunday. He noted that the average person struggles to understand the budget, and what matters most are rising prices of essential commodities and falling incomes, issues he said the budget failed to address.
Warring criticised the Finance Minister for not mentioning Punjab even once during her budget speech. He highlighted that the budget was presented on the same day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Punjab to commemorate the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas. “While the Prime Minister was making tall claims in Punjab, his Finance Minister was belying those claims inside the parliament,” Warring stated, emphasising Punjab received no benefits from the budget, not even a mention.
He added that since the Prime Minister’s visit to Punjab coincided with the Union Budget presentation, the government should have announced the establishment of a university named after Guru Ravidas in Punjab. Warring criticised the budget speech for not aligning with the Prime Minister’s claims in Punjab and lamented that key farmers’ issues, such as the long-standing promise of guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for crops, were ignored.
According to the Punjab Congress president, the Finance Minister appeared to make an “electoral statement” aimed at upcoming elections in five states rather than delivering a substantive financial statement.
On the same day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget for 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha. She asserted that the budget is driven by “Yuvashakti” and based on “three kartavyas.” The plan includes proposals for seven high-speed rail corridors, new dedicated freight corridors, and the operation of 20 national waterways over the next five years.