March 23, 2026
Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale’s speech on The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2026
Vice-Chairman Madam, to start with, I wish to nominate our Finance Minister for a very important award. I think she fully deserves it. She has presented nine consecutive Budgets and, I think, by now it is well-established, undisputedly, that she deserves this award. Our hon. Finance Minister is the world’s most gifted writer in fiction. It is because, if you look at the Budget, and then if you look at this Appropriation Bill that has been moved, it is very clear that the Budget presented to Parliament every year is a work of fiction. I will tell you why! here is the Budget Estimates, which is presented in the Budget, and then, after that, the Government comes out with Revised Estimates. In 2025-2026, the Government has cut down its own Budget Estimates by nearly Rs. 10 lakh crores in the Revised Estimates. Rs. 10 lakh crores is the difference between what they presented in the Budget versus what is in the Revised Estimates. This is nothing short of presenting a very glorious work of fiction while presenting the Budget where everything is hunky-dory, we are going to spend so much and all, but the reality is something very concerning. Madam, I will go Ministry-wise. Regarding drinking water and sanitation, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, — water literally has been one of the basic necessities for a human to survive — there is a 69 per cent cut from the Budget Estimates to the Revised Estimates. With regard to Labour and Employment, this Government says, there is no unemployment. In Labour and Employment, there is 61 per cent cut from the Budget Estimates. In Housing and Urban Affairs, how much was cut from the Budget Estimates to the Revised Estimates? It is 38 per cent. In Tourism, it is 50 per cent. Tourism is doing well right now in some parts. In Bengal, we have two tourists that are coming in regularly. But, other than that, the Central Tourism Budget has been halved by 50 per cent. Skill Development Budget–skills lead to jobs–has been cut by 43 per cent. With regard to Tribal Affairs, I would like to say that we are very privileged that the Head of our State, our hon. President, comes from the tribal community. But, Madam, under her Government, Tribal Affairs’ Budget has been cut down by 27 per cent. I think, there cannot be any bigger protocol violation than this. Minority Affairs’ Budget has been cut down by 36 per cent. But that is not surprising. We know the condition of Minorities in this country under this Government. So, that part is not surprising at all. We should be thankful that it is only by 36 per cent and not more than that. Even though under Jal Jeevan Mission—it is very interesting, the hon. Minister was here earlier–for the last five years, in not a single year, the Ministry has spent more than Rs. 26,000 crores. But, in every Budget, including this one, they are allotted Rs. 74,000 crores. They allot Rs. 74,000 crores, but they only spent Rs. 26,000 crores. And, again, you allot Rs. 74,000 crores, they only spend Rs. 26,000 crores. I do not understand why this Government treats Government’s accounts as a savings account. As I said in my earlier speech as well, the Government is not a corporate entity where it is supposed to declare surplus at the end of the year. Surplus, when you are not spending the funds that are allocated, only means that you are collecting money in tax from people, but you are not giving it back to them in the form of welfare and services, which is the Government’s job to provide. Madam, there is another very staggering figure. As you know, they like to talk a lot about a statement made by a former Prime Minister about one rupee sent and how many paise reach the ground. But, there is another problem today. This Government is heavily indebted. Just to give you an example, 40 per cent of revenue of the Government goes on interest payments and debt servicing. For every 10 rupees that the Government earns, 4 rupees is only spent on interest payments and debt servicing. On one side, we hear all these great speeches about the great work that has been done, and hon. Prime Minister has managed so and so, then why is our borrowing so high? It is because you are increasing taxes. Today, the amount of collection from income-tax is higher than the collection from corporate taxes. You are imposing a GST on absolutely everything. My leader in the Lok Sabha, Shri Abhishek Banerjee, described a whole birth-to-death cycle of how this Government taxes at every stage of your life. You are collecting all these taxes and yet 40 per cent is going on debt servicing. The other thing is, you are borrowing money, you are taxing people, but you are not paying the dues that belong to the States. Today, Rs.2 lakh crores of pending dues are owed to the State of West Bengal. So, the question is this. Where is this money going at the end of the day? We have seen numerous reports which talk about publicity, like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ where about 90 per cent was spent on publicity. But is this prudent fiscal management where you are collecting money from the people and that money is being spent on putting up photographs of the Prime Minister? Madam, it does not work. You started in 2014; you continued in 2019. I listened to all the speeches from this side. They talk about how everything is going well and how everything is great. But if everything was so great, you would not have been reduced to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha. The problem is, they are still not willing to learn the lesson. Madam, when we talk about social funding, when we talk about funding for the disadvantaged classes, in 2021, literally, the Cabinet refused to give approval to all minority scholarships in the country. Rs.21,000 crores was allocated, but it lapsed later because the Ministry of Minority Affairs said that the Cabinet has not approved. To what extent will the Government push the minorities of the country into a corner? Since the 2024 election, the entire rhetoric, which earlier was ‘Modi kee Guarantee’, ‘Viksit Bharat’, say, in 2022 and 2024, now all we hear is ‘Hindu-Muslim’. This is all we are hearing from this Government. Madam, because this is an elaborate work of fiction, maybe, sometimes we need to look at facts because the best way to counter fiction is through facts. Therefore, I am going to state four undisputed facts here in this House because when you present a thick work of fiction in the form of Budget, maybe, a reality check is called for; it is important. Fact number one, this Government is misinforming the country on the fuel shortage and the LPG crisis; it is a fact. The LPG prices have gone up. Very soon, petrol and diesel prices will go up. The hon. Petroleum Minister is here, he cannot sue me for defamation for saying this, but the petrol and diesel prices will go up. Number two, the Union has declared, the BJP has declared an unwritten Emergency in the State of West Bengal. There is an undeclared Emergency going on right now. Number three; * And number four is a very important fact because now I am going to make a prediction. The fourth fact is that on 4th of May, Ms. Mamata Banerjee will be reelected as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the fourth time. So, in conclusion, all I will say, Madam, is this. No matter how many attacks you make, Bengal will win again. जय हिंद, जय बंगला Thank you very much.
