February 9, 2026
Sushmita Dev’s speech on the Union Budget for 2026-27
Sir, as I stand to speak on the Union Budget of 2026-27, I would like to thank my party. I have been listening to hon. Member of Parliament from the BJP who just spoke. But, what is important about this Budget is not what this Budget is actually addressing, what is jarring to my ears and to the common man of this country are the issues on which this Budget is silent. Sir, the second thing, which is glaring to my eyes, is huge loopholes when it comes to the data that the hon. Finance Minister is depending on to tell us about growth, poverty alleviation, etc. Last but not the least, Sir, which we have been saying for the last four or five years, is discrimination and disparity the way you treat the States cannot, under any circumstances, ensure the growth of India as a nation. Sir, now, I would like to say about some examples of manipulation of data. Nine consecutive Budgets hon. Finance Minister has presented matching the number of Budgets that the hon. Member and former Finance Minister, Shri Chidambaram, has presented. It is history no doubt; but, it is also a history that first time in this nation a Finance Minister has given us six Budgets without a Census! The question I ask myself now is whether the Census work has started. They are talking about digitization and self-enumeration this time. I want to ask the Government that if you were planning on self-enumeration, then, what the reason is that you did not start the Census where people of India sat in their homes during the pandemic and given you the data, and the Census should have started. It is a shame that the Finance Commission of India which devolves funds to the States on the basis of population has been working without a census for six years. Secondly, we hear about 25 crore people who have been pulled out of multi-dimensional poverty over a decade. If that is true, I am very happy. But I would like to seek a clarification from the hon. Finance Minister of India, the NITI Aayog, the think tank: Is it a fact that to declare someone non-poor, one of the indicators that have been included in the index is Jan Dhan accounts? And 23 per cent of the Jan Dhan accounts are inactive. In the Lok Sabha, they have said that 13 crores out of 56 crores accounts are inactive. So why should we believe that 25 crore people have been pulled out of poverty? Now I come to GDP. Why is the IMF questioning our base year? We have seen different PIB releases that the Biswantah Goldar Committee Report is yet to be out where they are recommending 2022-23 as the base year. So, unless there is a calculation on that basis, why should we believe on the GDP and growth data of the country? We are told that we rank as the fourth largest economy, but at 166 out of 128 in per capita income. five trillion economy was supposed to happen till 2025, but a research report of the SBI states that it is a distant dream till 2028. CMIE data shows a dismal record of employment. The PLFS data shows that only one in two graduates are employable. Whereas, we have seen that boasting of Government jobs cannot solve the problem of unemployment unless there is a growing private sector and huge private investment in any State. I take pride in the fact that the report card that hon. Chief Minister of Bengal has given to every household of Bengal says that in her tenure, unemployment in Bengal went down by 40 per cent. Now I come to inequality. This Budget speech is silent on inequality, whereas, the scathing World Inequality Report-2026 tells us that India is one of the highest in the world and 100 years high means worse than the colonial era. Sir, the rupee is falling. I have a simple question on ‘Har Ghar Jal’. On 1st February, 2024, when the interim Budget was announced by hon. Finance Minister, she allocated Rs.70,000 crores because Prime Minister mentioned about, ‘Har Ghar Jal’ from the Red Fort. It is shocking that soon after the General Elections are over in 2014, the Central Government simply retracts their commitment. After every State sits with the Central Government and makes an action plan, including top officers of the State and the Government of India, this Government reneged on its promise. This is nothing short of a financial. Thousands of contractors, today, are owing money. Anyway, now I come to the most potent issue which is discrimination against the States. She has given 50 days of wage employment under Karmashree Scheme with her own ability. This is Mamata Didi’s Government and despite deprivation, Mamata Di has delivered on every promise that the Central Government should have. The recent CAG Report has been scathing against the Assam Government’s Budget of 2023-24. Sir, Assam Government has taken a debt of Rs.1,50,000 crore. Mamta didi’s debt is because of your deprivation. Sir, after taking a debt, he is giving Rs.1200 here and Rs.5000 there, I would like to say that it is shocking that the CAG is saying that economic spending has reduced by 7.52 per cent. I come to an even more important question, Sir. Hon. Finance Minister has given Rs.6,000 crores to the Registrar General of India for Census. I thank her for it. What is worrying me along with the Census is NPR. NPR is a precursor to NRC. After Rs.1600 crores was spent by the Registrar General of India on NRC, it was a biggest disappointment, AN useless and futile exercise that hon. Home Minister of India milked for election-after-election. But, till today, we don’t have a solution.
