Budget FY27: FM Throws Challenge To Rahul Gandhi, Asks Him To Cite Specific Gaps

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the Union Budget as “uninformed”, challenging him to substantiate his claims of gaps in the Budget with specific evidence from the document.

Responding to Gandhi’s charge that the Budget ignored unemployment, rural distress and a slowdown in manufacturing, Sitharaman said the allegations had “absolutely no basis” and accused the Congress leader of making sweeping claims without specifics.

“I challenge him to point out any paragraph in the Budget that supports these accusations,” she said in an interview with Press Trust of India (PTI) Videos, adding that the government had focused on youth skilling, entrepreneurship and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Sitharaman said the Budget blends traditional support for agriculture and rural employment with a renewed push for skilling and youth-centric training frameworks to meet emerging labour-market needs.

Asked about Gandhi’s criticism, the minister said engaging with such allegations would amount to giving credibility to claims that have no factual basis.

“I would like him to give exact, specific gaps in the Budget to prove each one of these things that he is throwing at the Budget. I challenge him on it,” she said.

She added that the Budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1 has provisions for training youth, creating opportunities for entrepreneurship and ensuring that artificial intelligence is integrated into future-ready initiatives.

“After providing for all this, where is he coming from with these arguments? Ask him to highlight any paragraph that reveals this,” she said.

On Gandhi’s renewed attack following the US announcement of a tariff reduction — where he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “selling out” Indian farmers — Sitharaman declined to comment, saying the commerce minister would address the issue in Parliament.