The Congress on Tuesday slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's reply to the discussion on General Budget 2025-26, saying it was a "masterclass" on how to shift blame, deflect, and distract from reality.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at Sitharaman, asking which planet is she living on when the issues of inflation, unemployment and price rise are not acknowledged.

Replying to a discussion on the General Budget 2025-26, Sitharaman said the inflation trend, particularly food, appears to be moderating. She also said the government is using almost the entire borrowing in 2025-26 towards financing capital expenditure.

Asked about the finance minister's reply to the debate on the Union Budget, Priyanka Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament, "I don't know which planet she is living on. She is saying there is no inflation, there is no rise in unemployment, there is no rise in prices." Congress general secretary in-charge organisations K C Venugopal said the Finance Minister's reply to the budget discussion in the Lok Sabha was a masterclass on how to shift blame, deflect, and distract from reality.

"Her arrogant dismissal of the pressing issues raised by the opposition shows that her real intentions were never to respond to the gaps highlighted in the budget, but to score political points," he said on X.

"In her reply, she found it more suitable to cherry-pick UPA-era statistics instead of explaining why key economic indices - be it the GDP growth rate or the rupee value against the dollar - are in terminal decline. On key social welfare schemes, instead of explaining the stagnation or reduction in budget allocations, she shifted the blame to state governments," Venugopal said.

"It was our hope that the collective wisdom of the house will guide this government to course correct, but as we have seen since 2014, the people of India have been left disappointed as their government indulges in a political slugfest without providing any answers to the pressing economic crisis we are faced with," he said.

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