Madhya Pradesh’s political landscape heated up as the BJP government’s third budget, pegged at Rs 4.38 lakh crore, faced a barrage of opposition fire in the assembly. Finance Minister Jagdish Devda’s presentation promised broad-based welfare, but Congress leaders branded it a hollow promise amid mounting debts and ignored crises.
Jitu Patwari, in a pointed media briefing, described the budget as a ‘cheat code for public exploitation.’ He flagged the unclear path to covering the fiscal deficit, noting over half of last year’s provisions went unused. With 33 vital schemes defunct and no budgetary nod to revive them, Patwari likened the state to a centrally administered zone stripped of autonomy.
‘Forget sterilizing strays—sterilize the corruption first,’ Patwari advised, positioning it as the antidote to the state’s economic emergency. Umang Singhar hammered home the fiscal peril: government’s own figures show a Rs 74,000 crore deficit, part of a Rs 6 lakh crore debt load from policy missteps—Rs 60,000+ per person, crushing for indebted farmers.
The budget sidesteps core woes—no roadmap to double farm incomes, scant youth job pledges, ignored employee DA demands, and persistent high power bills without relief. Private sector perks stand out amid public neglect. Alarmingly, interest servicing consumes 16% of revenues, outstripping any ministry’s share.
Flamboyant announcements like 2026 as Farmers’ Welfare Year arrive fundless, while Rs 33 lakh crore investment claims from investor summits evade scrutiny—no data on actual inflows or jobs from prior summits. As debates rage, the budget’s viability hinges on whether it can deliver beyond the fanfare.