New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said the Union Budget is focused on growth and development, and slammed the opposition parties for “playing politics” over it.

The opposition parties on Sunday criticised the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with the Congress calling it “totally lacklustre” and alleging that it fell woefully short of the hype generated around it.

The Samajwadi Party said the Budget failed to meet people's expectations, as there was “nothing much” in it.

Asked about the opposition parties’ claim that the Budget had nothing for the common people, Rijiju told reporters, “All the provisions have been made for the common people only. If those in the opposition do not consider themselves common people, what can we do?" Asserting that the Budget for 2026-27 is focused on growth and development, the minister said, “The country is happy. I believe there is no scope to criticise this Budget. Still, if someone criticises it, it must be politically motivated.” “I want to urge my friends in the opposition to welcome this good Budget. Don't play politics over it,” he added.

After the Budget was presented in Parliament, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said it was “totally lacklustre” and fell “woefully” short of the hype generated around it.

He also said that Sitharaman's Budget speech was "non-transparent" as it “gave no idea” of the budgetary allocations for key programmes and schemes.

"While the documents need to be studied in detail, it is clear after 90 minutes that Budget 2026/27 falls woefully short of the hype that was generated about it. It was totally lacklustre," Ramesh said in a post on X.

Samajwadi MP Dimple Yadav claimed the Budget failed to meet people's expectations.

“There's nothing much in the Budget... Nothing for women and youth. We wanted the government to raise the budget for education, healthcare, agriculture... However, this Budget has nothing for these sectors,” she told reporters in the Parliament House complex. PTI PK ARI ARI

Union Budget 2026-27 defended as growth-focused; opposition calls it lacklustre, non transparent, and insufficient for key sectors. Kiren Rijiju defended the 2026-27 Union Budget as growth- and development-focused with provisions for the common people and urged the opposition not to politicise it. The Congress and Samajwadi Party criticised the Budget as lacklustre, alleging it lacked transparency in allocation details and provided inadequate support for women, youth, education, healthcare, and agriculture, and called for further scrutiny of the Budget documents.