'Forgettable, mumbo jumbo Budget': Chidambaram, Surjewala in Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha on Monday took up discussions on the Union Budget 2026-27 with former finance minister P Chidambaram leading the opposition charge and dismissing the budget as "forgettable."

While Congress MPs, Chidambaram and Randeep Surjewala, flayed the Centre over "steep cuts" in social sectors, agriculture, rural, urban development, and Jal Jeevan Mission sectors, TMC used the occasion to question the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise in West Bengal.

Chidambaram cited fund reductions of Rs 53,067 crore in rural development, Rs 39,573 crore in urban development, Rs 9,999 crore in social welfare, Rs 6,985 crore in agriculture, Rs 6,701 crore in education, and Rs 3,686 crore in health.

"The Jal Jeevan Mission's funds were slashed from Rs 67,000 crore to Rs 17,000 crore in the revised estimates. The agriculture, rural, and urban development sectors saw a combined cut of Rs 60,000 crore. Is the government serious about our farmers and the rural and urban infrastructure? No," he said.

Chidambaram dubbed the Budget "cautious, parsimonious and forgetful of the past year."

"This is a forgettable budget. The finance minister has forgotten the promises made in the House last year," he said.

Chidambaram also flagged a 15 % youth employment rate and said less than 25% of the workforce is in regular employment.

"In a country of 144 crore, only 195 lakh are employed in a factory, meaning manufacturing has been stuck at 16% for years now," he added, asking FM Nirmala Sitharaman why PM's internship scheme failed.

Later, Surjewala said Sitharaman presented a "mumbo jumbo budget" and said people are calling it a 'katauti' (deduction) budget due to "fund cuts."

Surjewala termed the budget "anti-farmers" and "anti-agriculture".

"From 2018–19 to 2023–24, Rs 1,17,000 crore agriculture budget was surrendered. In 2024–25 alone, Rs 52,685 crore remained unspent. There has been a budget cut of Rs 15,777 crore in fertilizer subsidy, Rs 9,670 crore in urea subsidy, and Rs 6,000 crore in phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertiliser subsidy. At a time when fertilizer prices are rising globally, farmers will again face black marketing and shortages," he added.

BJP's Arun Singh defended the budget, saying allocations have tripled over the past year, with the poor at the core.

"They speak about farm loan waiver, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured that more than Rs 4 lakh crore was directly transferred to farmers. The production of grains and horticulture has also increased. There was an increase of 22% in the allotment to VB G RAM G over the MGNREGA allotment last year," Singh said, adding that the Budget eases living and business.

"Work on the semiconductor mission and dedicated rare earth corridor is progressing fast," he added.

AAP's Raghav Chadha demanded regulation for virtual digital assets like cryptocurrency, saying " investors are moving offshore and should be brought on-shore to bring Rs 15,000 crore to 20,000 crore to the government treasury.”

“We currently tax virtual digital assets as if they are legal, but regulate them as if they are illegal," he said.  TMC's Susmita Dev slammed SIR.

Earlier, the Opposition walked out after Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was interrupted by Chairman CP Radhakrishnan when he tried to mention Rahul Gandhi not being permitted to speak in Lok Sabha. Radhakrishnan said matters related to the Lok Sabha could not be raised in the Upper House.

Kharge had also sought to ask why Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made a statement on the India-US trade deal outside Parliament.