Opposition targets Centre over inequality of income, ‘atmosphere of fear’ in Budget discussion

Opposition members in the Lok Sabha expressed their concerns over low per capita income, growing inequality, and unemployment while speaking on the Union Budget. “No economy can grow in an atmosphere of fear and hatred,” Congress MP K.C. Venugopal said, taking part in the debate on the Union Budget.

Mr. Venugopal claimed that as many as 80 churches had been attacked during the 2025 Christmas season, and referred to a controversial statement by a Chief Minister targeting a minority group in his State. The name of the CM was removed from the record of the proceedings.

“No nation can prosper when communities are divided. Today (February 11, 2026), hate is becoming a normalised situation in the country. State-sponsored terror in the name of what is proudly called as ‘bulldozer raj’ has become a political tool,” he said.

Mr. Venugopal also flagged the issue of the Indian rupee crossing the ₹91 mark against the U.S. dollar, unemployment rate among urban youth reaching 18%, and the top 10% of the population controlling 58% of the country’s resources. The rights-based approach of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), reflected in laws, including the erstwhile Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Right to Information (RTI) Act, and the Forest Rights Act, are being diluted or taken away.

“The Finance Minister will proudly speak of growth and development. But behind these claims lie these harsh realities,” he said. The Congress member from Kerala’s Alappuzha constituency asked why his State did not yet have an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), despite having been promised one back in 2014.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Anurag Thakur, speaking soon after the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, targeted the latter. “The electoral losses have filled him with hatred. He hates parliamentary rules, he hates the Speaker, he hates Constitutional institutions, he hates the Prime Minister, and now he has started hating India,” Mr. Thakur said.

In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition members flagged concerns over growing income inequality. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sanjay Yadav noted that while India is now the world’s fourth-largest economy, it ranks much lower on the per capita income scale.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP V. Sivadasan sought to counter the government’s claims of India being a high‑growth economy, arguing that wages for ASHA and anganwadi workers had not been revised for a decade. Social welfare pensions, he said, had also remained unchanged for more than 10 years.

“The government likes to tell us we are the world’s fourth‑largest economy. But what it doesn’t tell people is that in terms of per capita GDP, our economy ranks 123rd,” Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale, citing official data, said. “The problem with the BJP is that one leg is in 1947 and the other in 2047. There is nothing in the present,” Mr. Gokhale, taking a swipe at the ruling party.  

The Union Budget had become “personality‑oriented” rather than policy‑driven, he alleged, claiming that urban Indian youth now had lower purchasing power than young people in several conflict‑hit countries.

Congress MP Rajeev Shukla criticised the India-U.S. interim trade deal, questioning the government’s portrayal of it as a success. “Now they are saying an 18% tariff is an achievement,” he said, adding that economists had warned the agreement was tilted in favour of the U.S.

Restrictions on Russian oil imports could push up fuel prices, Mr. Shukla said. Economic growth alone is insufficient, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said, stressing that employment must be central to policy-making. Was success being measured by investment announcements or by the creation of dignified jobs, especially in smaller towns and rural areas, Mr. Gowda said.