It's A 'Humpty-Dumpty Budget,' It's Anti-women, Anti-farmer, Anti-education: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday slammed the BJP-led central government and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget 2026. Mamata Banerjee, the budget, which was announced by the Union Finance Minister om Sunday, will destroy the economic structure of the country.

"It's a 'Humpty-Dumpty Budget', just jugglery of words, it's anti-women, anti-farmer, anti-education. Centre wants to destroy the economic structure of the country," West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee told the media.

Opposition parties have sharply criticized Prime Minister Modi over the Union Budget. Calling the budget disappointing for all sections of society, opposition parties said on Sunday that the country has no expectations from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

VIDEO | Kolkata: "It's a 'Humpty-Dumpty Budget', just jugglery of words, it's anti-women, anti-farmer, anti-education. Centre wants to destroy the economic structure of the country," says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

(Full video available on PTI Videos -… pic.twitter.com/LNNrx2YoE8

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 1, 2026

What did the Congress say?

The main opposition party, Congress, targeted the Modi government, claiming that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech also lacked transparency as it did not provide information on budgetary allocations for major programs and schemes.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on social media platform 'X' that while a full reading of the (budget-related) documents is still pending, it is clear after 90 minutes (of the speech) that the budget completely failed to meet expectations. It was utterly lackluster and disappointing.

He claimed that the speech was also not transparent, as it did not provide any information about budgetary allocations for major programs and schemes. Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said that this budget is not for the common people, but for big corporations.

Is the budget disappointing for Kerala?

He also claimed that this budget is completely disappointing for Kerala. Promises have been made regarding an AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) for Kerala for the last 10 years, but there is no mention of it in this budget. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, while taking a dig at the budget, said that if things continue like this, people will have to wear jewelry made of brass plated on iron.

He claimed that basic issues, education and health, have been ignored... If we truly want to dream of a developed India, then we will have to allocate a much larger budget for the education sector. This is an incomprehensible budget. It's just a budget that shows dreams.

No hope from BJP, so what to expect from the budget?

The SP supremo said that when there is no hope from the BJP, then what can be expected from the budget? It has disappointed the common people. This budget offers no relief to anyone. It's a budget only for five percent of the population. Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that the Finance Minister delivered an 85-minute budget speech but did not mention West Bengal even once.

He said that the budget did not discuss farmers, youth, or job creation. No solutions were offered for any community. This budget is baseless and lacks any vision. He alleged that the central government and its ministers view Bengal through the lens of Bangladesh.

What did the Finance Minister announce?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for the financial year 2026-27 on Sunday. She announced that the capital expenditure target would be increased to ₹12.2 lakh crore, up from ₹11.2 lakh crore for the current financial year. She also announced several measures to boost infrastructure in the country.