Assam budget ‘cash-for-vote’ document, has no vision, claim oppn parties

Guwahati, Mar 10 (PTI) Opposition parties criticised the Assam budget for the 2025-26 fiscal, alleging that it is a "cash-for-vote" document and has "no vision" for the future.

They also claimed that it is "not an inclusive budget" with many areas, receiving minimal coverage by schemes, and will "empower none".

Finance Minister Ajanta Neog presented in the assembly a Rs 2.63 lakh crore budget for the 2025-26 fiscal with a deficit of Rs 620.27 crore.

Leader of opposition and Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia claimed that the schemes included in the budget are designed with an eye on next year’s assembly elections.

“Many schemes will be rolled out in October whereas the budget comes into force from April. These schemes are directly targeted at the election to woo voters. It is a cash-for-vote budget,” he said.

Saikia also raised concern at the increasing debt of the government and claimed that the budget has "not addressed core issues like price rise, unemployment, etc".

AIUDF legislator Rafiqul Islam alleged that the budget was only meant for beneficiaries comprising certain segments like women and youth.

“There are discriminations among beneficiaries. Some districts are getting repeated mention in the budget, while many like Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Baksa, Chirang, Nagaon, Hailakandi, have limited mention,” he claimed.

Islam also questioned the rationale behind launching some of the announced schemes from October and said, “These will be rolled out at the eleventh hour before the election to woo voters.” Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi criticised the budget for being dependent on external sources of revenue.

He pointed out that only about 30 per cent of the budget estimate will be covered by the state’s own sources, with the rest coming from the Centre and loans.

“It is a budget which only creates beneficiaries but empowers none. It is a document with no vision for the future,” Gogoi added.

Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) alleged that the budget had "no focus on the welfare of the people" and the government was trying to woo voters for the 2026 assembly polls.

AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and its general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan claimed that there was "no importance on key sectors like agriculture and irrigation, or resolving problems of flood and erosion, inflation, etc." The state unit of Aam Admi Patry (AAP) maintained that the budget "failed to pave any path for the future of the state".

Issues like unemployment, price rise, and problems of farmers "remained unaddressed", with the focus solely on creating beneficiaries, AAP state chief (in-charge) Bhaben Choudhury claimed.

The CPI(M) also slammed the budget as allegedly "failing to address the core issues of the state".

Issues, like problems faced by farmers, agriculture and unemployment, are important for the state, but these have "not been addressed", it claimed in a statement. PTI SSG SSG BDC