Lucknow, February 11 Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday described the Uttar Pradesh budget for the 2026-27 fiscal as "more populist" and less focused on the development of all sections of society.
She said that if accurate data on the implementation of last year's budget at the ground level had been presented, it would have made the budget speech more concrete and credible.
"The current budget also appears aimed more at grabbing newspaper headlines, which once again seems to have dashed people's hopes of 'achhe din' (good days)," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a post on X after the budget was presented in the Assembly.
Mayawati also said, "The 2026-27 budget presented in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly today appears more populist and less oriented towards the real uplift of the people and the development of all sections and regions of the state."
She, however, added that the announcements and assurances made in the budget should be implemented properly and within a fixed timeframe so that they do not remain confined to paper.
The BSP chief said that the people of Uttar Pradesh are still waiting for employment opportunities that generate a stable income, and stressed that seriousness and proactive measures are needed in this matter.
She also called for adequate attention to reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs and said that backlog vacancies should be filled at the earliest.
Mayawati said that if the BJP government follows the constitutional principle of 'Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay' (welfare of all) with sincerity and honesty, as done during the BSP dispensations, it would be in the interest of the country and the public.
"The budget should move in that direction and not be beneficial only to particular classes or regions, nor anti-poor and anti-farmer, but should serve as a means to improve the lives of crores of poor people and farmers," she said.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna presented a budget of Rs 9,12,696.35 crore for the financial year 2026-27 in the state Assembly, marking an increase of about 12.2 per cent over the previous year's outlay.
