New Delhi, March 23 TMC MP Saket Gokhale said on Monday that the NDA government has revised its own 2025-26 Budget Estimate by nearly Rs 10 lakh crore.
"Rs 10 lakh crore is the difference between what they present in the budget versus what is in the revised estimates," Gokhale said, taking a dig at the Finance Minister by calling her "the world's most gifted writer in fiction".
"If you look at the budget and if you look at the Appropriation Bill that is being presented, it is very clear that the budget that is presented to Parliament every year is a work of fiction," he said in the Rajya Sabha.
While presenting the ministry-wise details, he said that in the revised estimate, the budget for drinking water and sanitation has been reduced by 69 per cent, labour and employment by 61 per cent, housing and urban affairs by 38 per cent, tourism by 50 per cent, skill development by 43 per cent, tribal affairs by 27 per cent, and minority affairs by 36 per cent.
Talking about the Jal Jeevan Mission, Gokhale said that the ministry has not spent more than Rs 26 thousand crore in a single year in the last five years; however, in every budget, including the 2026-27, the government has allotted Rs 74 thousand crore.
"The government is not a corporate entity where it is supposed to declare a surplus at the end of the year. A surplus, when you are not spending the funds allocated, only means that you are collecting money in taxes from people, but you are not giving back to them in the form of welfare and services, which is the government’s job to provide," Gokhale said.
The TMC MP also claimed that the current government is heavily indebted, as 40 per cent of its revenues go on interest payments and servicing debt.
"For every Rs 10 that the government earns, Rs 4 is only spent on servicing interest and debt payments," he stated.
Alleging that the Centre is not paying dues to state governments, he pointed out that the government owes Rs 2 lakh crore to West Bengal, but it is more interested in spending money on its publicity.
Asserting that Mamata Banerjee will be re-elected in the forthcoming elections, he charged the BJP of imposing an undeclared emergency in West Bengal and the Election Commission of India "completely working for the BJP”.
He also alleged that the government is misleading the country on the fuel shortage, as well as the LPG crisis, and claimed that very soon the petrol prices will go up.
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