Congress spokesperson HA Venkatesh. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Congress leader and KPCC spokesperson HA Venkatesh on Sunday slammed the Union Budget, calling it “anti-people” and claiming that it offers only “empty slogans” without any effective or meaningful schemes.
In his statement, he accused the Center of trying to usurp states’ rightful share of tax revenue and not reducing the tax burden on common people.
Referring to the recently released Economic Survey, Mr. Venkatesh claimed that it “has already exposed the NDA government’s failure across sectors, leaving the Union government in a helpless position”.
“This reality is clearly reflected in the budget, where Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is forced to take a cautious approach. The budget confirms that the Modi-led government lacks the financial strength needed to take decisive policy decisions,” he said.
He further accused the Center of continuing to ignore the issue of equitable devolution of taxes to the states and meting out “grave injustice” to Karnataka by not announcing any concrete projects for the state. The backward regions of North Karnataka, he said, were neglected as no institutions of national importance like IITs or IIMs were sanctioned.
Published – 01 Feb 2026 20:54 IST