The Union Budget is a big disappointment for Karnataka, claimed Minister and Congress leader Laxmi Hebbalkar on Sunday.
Karnataka has been the target of repeated neglect by successive governments. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has completely ignored Karnataka in this Budget as well, she said.
Despite being elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, Ms. Sitharaman “has ignored our long pending demands for equitable distribution of taxes and support for schemes.”
“All pending dues have not been released. She has no regard for the fact that the people of the State have elected the highest number of BJP members in the last few Lok Sabha elections. Karnataka has not got its due despite the fact that its senior leaders Basavaraj Bommai and Jagadish Shettar and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje are representing it at the Centre,” she said.
Meanwhile, MP Priyanka Jarkiholi criticized the Budget for not announcing any major project for North Karnataka.
The announcement of the development of high-speed rail corridors between Bengaluru and Hyderabad and Bengaluru and Chennai in the Union Budget is welcome. However, there are no projects for North Karnataka and that continues to be neglected. Youth are feeling betrayed as there is no clarity on job creation, she said.
Minister Satish Jarkiholi said that the Budget has not done much for farmers, youth, women, the deprived and the poor.
“The Union government is yet to keep its earlier budget promises like releasing ₹5,300 crore already announced for the Bhadra Upper Irrigation Project. The Budget is silent about the demand for the release of ₹11,495 crore recommended by the Finance Commission for Karnataka. The middle classes are in a fix as there is no reduction in taxes. Our expectation of more funds for irrigation, metro and railway projects has been belied,” he said.
Students Federation of India has termed the Budget anti-student.
“We have been demanding that the Central government allocate 10% of the total Budget for education, as per the recommendations of the Kothari Commission report. However, the outlay in the present budget is only 6.22%,” it said.
“We feel that the failure to curb foreign direct investment in the education sector is a very dangerous development. The budget fails to address concerns raised by activists and scholars about the new Nationa lEducation Policy. However, we welcome the announcement of girls hostels in all the 700 districts in the country,” SFI leader S. Basavaraj said.
“The Central government has failed to formulate a major scheme to bring higher education to those deprived of it due to economic and social background. This Budget has not paid attention to the development of government schools, colleges and universities. There is no clear roadmap for employment creation,” he said.
Published – February 01, 2026 09:20 pm IST
