FM walking on worn-out path, not willing to break free as we did in 1991, 2004: Cong

Asserting that the government has no new ideas, the Congress Saturday said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is walking on the “worn-out path” and is not willing to break free as its governments had done in 1991 and 2004. The opposition party said the takeaway from Budget 2025-26 is that the BJP is wooing the tax paying middle-class and the Bihar electorate. Addressing a press conference here on the Budget, senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram said these announcements will be welcomed by the 3.2 crore tax-paying middle-class and the 7.65 crore voters of Bihar.

But for the rest of India, the finance minister had no more than soothing words, punctuated by the applause of BJP members led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

“There is nothing to cheer about the fact that the government has improved the fiscal deficit from the budget estimate of 4.9 per cent to the revised estimate of 4.8 per cent. It was achieved at a huge cost to the economy,” he said.

“Those who did not believe us when we said that the economy is slowing down will, I hope, believe us now. Those who did not believe us that that the capacity of the government to plan and implement schemes has diminished will, I hope, believe us now,” Chidambaram said.

He added that capital expenditure for 2025-26 has been increased by Rs 1,02,661 crore but, “having regard to the experience of 2024-25, I doubt the capacity of the government to achieve the target”. “I am glad, however, that the finance minister has shed her faith in astrologically determined numbers,” the former Union ministe said. Chidambaram said is evident that neither the finance minister nor the prime minister 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 4 new funds,” he said.

The finance minister is “walking on the worn-out path and she is not willing to break free as we did in 1991 and 2004”, Chidambaram added.

“She is not willing to de-regulate. 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 stranglehold of the government on the activities of the people is getting tighter,” the senior Congress leader said.

He said the economy will trudge along on the old path and deliver no more than the usual 6 per cent 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,” Chidambaram added.