Parliament’s budget session turned contentious when Samajwadi Party MPs accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of transforming a fiscal debate into a West Bengal election primer.
Dimple Yadav didn’t mince words with the press: Sitharaman fixated on women’s safety issues in Bengal while blacking out parallel crises in UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and Odisha. ‘One-sided commentary with polls on her mind,’ Yadav charged, highlighting the inconsistency.
Broader economic worries surfaced too—Yadav flagged the US trade pact’s pitfalls for Indian growers and petite industries. ‘Damage to our rural backbone and small-scale units is imminent,’ she cautioned.
Priya Saroj piled on, decrying the budget’s farmer-blindness and absence of people-centric reforms. ‘All show, no substance—governments can’t run on words alone,’ she insisted. Hopes for responses to Akhilesh Yadav’s queries dashed, she labeled it a numeric sham and campaign tool.
Frequent shoutouts to West Bengal, Kolkata, and ‘Mamata Didi’ irked the opposition, who saw no depth on education, health, agriculture, or employment—fueling their demonstrations.
Anand Bhadauriya noted they stayed put through the speech, deeming both budget and reply vacuous. ‘More political sermon than answers; ignoring dues from Bengal while begging votes,’ he quipped.
This clash reveals stark partisan lines, with SP positioning the budget as electoral fodder amid rising state poll stakes.