New Delhi: The former finance Minister and senior congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday in a sharp critique to the Union Budget 2025-26, said that the finance Minister walks on a worn-out path and she and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have not followed the advice of the Chief Economic Advisor.
Addressing a press conference, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the economy will trudge along on the old path and deliver no more than the usual 6 or 6.5 per cent growth in 2025-26. “This is a far cry from the 8 per cent growth rate that the CEA estimated in order to become a developed country. In our view, this is a government with no new ideas and no will to reach beyond its grasp,” he said.
Recalling economic reforms carried out in 1991 and 2004, he said the Finance Minister is not keen to deregulate.
Chief Economic Advisor V Anant Nageswaran on Friday held a press conference on the Economic Survey which was presented in Parliament.
Chidambaram said, “it is evident that neither the FM nor the PM care for the advice of the Chief Economic Adviser”.
“He gave sensible advice in the Economic Survey. ‘Get out of the way’ was his call to the government. On the contrary, the Budget is full of new schemes and programmes, many of which are beyond the capacity of this government. I counted at least 15 new schemes or programmes and four new Funds. The FM is walking on the worn-out path. She is not willing to break free as we did in 1991 and 2004,” the Congress leader said.
“She is not willing to deregulate. She is not willing to get out of the way of the people, especially the entrepreneurs and the MSMEs and the start-ups. It is the bureaucracy that will be happy with this Budget. The strangle- hold of the government on the activities of the people is getting tighter,” he added.
Chidambaram said the takeaway from Budget 2025-26 is that the BJP is wooing the tax-paying middle class and the Bihar electorate. Bihar will go to the polls later this year.
“These announcements will be welcomed by the 3.2 crore tax paying middle class and the 7.65 crore voters of Bihar. For the rest of India, the Finance Minister had no more than soothing words, punctuated by the applause of BJP members led by the Prime Minister,” he said.
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