P Chidambaram Criticizes Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2025: ‘Beyond Capacity…’

P Chidambaram Criticizes Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2025: Former finance minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram said on Saturday that Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget with an eye on the middle class and voters in Bihar, where elections are due later this year.

Chidambaram said the government has no new ideas due to its being stuck on the "worn-out path" and that Sitharaman was just unable to break free like the governments of 1991 and 2004 did.

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"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," Chidambaram 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," he 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.

"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 added.

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The finance minister also announced the national mission for cotton production and the setting up of the Makhana Board for Bihar. Given these announcements, the opposition has stated that they were made for political calculations in light of the elections ahead in the state.

This is the second year in a row Bihar has received some hefty allocation under the Union Budget. Last year, the Centre had announced development projects worth Rs 58,900 crore for Bihar, including roads, a 2,400-MW power plant, and flood management work.

The finance minister further announced the establishment of daycare cancer centres in district hospitals, 10,000 more seats in medical colleges, and the connectivity of government secondary schools and primary health centres with broadband.

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