Shashi Tharoor says Union Budget 2026 failed to address people’s concerns; flags zero allocation for Chabahar Port

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday criticised the Union Budget 2026, describing it as “underwhelming”. Tharoor said that the budget failed to address key issues, including unemployment and the household stress.

“I think that, honestly, this is an underwhelming budget. It’s one where a number of things have disappointed us,” he told news agency ANI.

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Tharoor said that the budget has nothing for the common people of the country. “What I think about is the aam aadmi in this country. Is there enough money in his pocket? Very clearly not,” he said, adding, “You’re seeing a dramatic increase in credit card debt every day,” he added.

Amid rising unemployment in the country, Tharoor highlighted that the educated youth is jobless due to lack of employment opportunities and yet the government has not addressed this in the budget.

“There are so many anecdotes of positions being advertised in the railways, a peon position, a head constable position, and you get over a thousand applications per post. These are not just the eight standard or ten standard qualifications that are required for the job; these are college graduates and PhDs because they have no adequate employment,” Tharoor said, adding that “that’s something the government has not addressed specifically in this budget.”

Questions Modi govt’s foreign policy after zero allocation for Iran’s Chabahar Port in the budget

Tharoor raised concerns over Modi government’s foreign policy, questioning  the absence of allocation for Iran’s Chabahar Port.

“Last year they had announced Rs 100 crores for the Chabahar port in the budget estimates. Then that went up to Rs 400 crores in the revised estimates, and this year’s budget is zero, which looks like we’re giving up on the port,” he said.

The Congress MP, who in the past has praised the Modi government’s foreign policy decisions, said that no allocating any funds to Chabahar Port looks like a surrender to the policy imposed from outside Iran, an apparent reference to the pressure form US President Donald Trump.

“It may be true that there are practical obstacles. If everything is sanctioned, how do you spend money? And what happens to those who do go there? Because those companies will be sanctioned by the West. Even Indian companies will be sanctioned. So that may be the reason. But it does look like it’s a surrender to a particular policy that has been imposed from the outside on Iran,” Tharoor said.

He also flagged the absence of support for Kerala’s inland waterways and ports. “We’ve had an announcement of ship repair in Patna and Varanasi, but Kerala has more inland waterways than any other Indian state, and there’s been no mention of Kerala,” he said.

Referring to the Verenium Port in his constituency, he further said, “We have the magnificent Verenium Port, which is the biggest container terminal in India, where the largest ships in the world are able to dock, but no mention of any support for it. It needs better connectivity into the hinterland — road and rail connectivity.”

He noted that a long-standing promise of AIIMS als9 remains unfulfilled. “We’ve been promised the AIIMS in the very first NDA budget 12 years ago. It still has not become reality,” Tharoor added