Cost of Easy Poll Wins: People Go Missing in Budget 2026

As Modi-led BJP wins elections comfortably, policies push the people out of centre stage from Budget 2026

By MANISH ANAND

New Delhi, February 2, 2026 — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seemed suffering from flu as she presented Budget 2026. She is not alone in her suffering. Millions of people spit out cough on streets in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). Four months of inhaling toxic fumes and chemical-laced air have made a large chunk of population sick.

But Budget 2026 had the courage to dismiss India’s foul air crisis. Not a word. No mention. Indeed, the foreigners investing in data centre will get tax breaks till 2047. That’s when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make India a ‘Viksit Bharat.’

Skilling mission of the government has been a disaster. Even the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India), already facing flaks for being to docile in Modi regime, has raised red flags over skill scamming programmes. Sitharaman mentioned skilling as a ritual in her Budget speech.

She read out her 90-minute speech when her government has turned University campus into a war zone of castes. Her Cabinet colleague, Dharmendra Pradhan, as is the wont of the Modi government, dismissed popular concerns that a caste war zone on campuses will burn down the amity in educational institutions.

Sitharaman dismissed education with passing references. Scholarships are stymied. Research funding has been roasted in the last few years. It’s no more a worry that this government indeed believes that education and health are corporate concerns.

In the name of health, the Modi government claims expansion of AIIMS across the country. Yet the government itself informs parliament that vacancies of doctors are not few but 30 to 70 percent. But cities, including Tier II and III, report a major expansion for corporate hospitals.

Inflation near one percent belongs to the realm of magic. Mustard oil costs over ₹200 for a liter packet. Milk costs over ₹75 per liter. Paneer packet commands a price of almost ₹85 for 200 grams. But the economy is in a disinflationary phase per the Economic Survey of India 2026-27.

Who is the classical economist working with the Modi government? The Niti Aayog is now full of consultants. Bibek Debroy saw a major part of the Modi government as the chairman of the PM Economic Advisory Council. He picked up the message early and devoted most of his time in translating Purans and other works of mythology.

When Modi can win elections easily by doling out a scheme here and there, one may wonder why he will be pushed to the wall to listen to sage minds from the world of economy. Yet the people are vanishing from Budgets, or their immediate concerns are dismissed off-hand with just one slogan—Viksit Bharat 2047.

One may forget that the Modi government has the luxury of most pliant media any prime minister ever would have ever seen. So the target of achieving a $5 trillion economy now suffers from amnesia. Doubling farmers’ income by 2019 is forgotten. Train ticket on demand by 2019 is history. India’s first Bullet Train running by 2023 is now a key word for Google search.

(This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are author’s own.)

Budget 2026 Misses Reform Moment as Modi Govt Rides Caution

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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