The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has slammed the BJP Government’s Delhi budget, calling it a ‘hawa-hawai budget’. Former Delhi CM and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, tore into the ₹1 lakh crore budget, calling it economically baseless and devoid of any credibility. She pointed out the glaring absence of an Economic Survey, challenging the BJP to present it in the Assembly—an act that, she asserted, would instantly expose the sham behind their financial claims.
Hitting out at the government’s priorities, Atishi revealed a startling reality: for the first time in a decade, the education budget has dropped below 20%, while the health budget has been slashed to just 13%. She called out the BJP for systematically weakening Delhi’s core services, citing a staggering ₹1,526 crore cut in the funds allocated to the MCD—a clear indication that the party is bent on wrecking the city’s education, healthcare, and sanitation infrastructure.
In a press conference, Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi stated that if the budget presented by the BJP-led Delhi government was to be described in one line, it would be called ‘hawa-hawai budget’. “This so-called ₹1 lakh crore budget has no economic foundation. The moment CM Rekha Gupta presented it in the Assembly, it became clear why the BJP deliberately withheld the Economic Survey from the House,” she said.
The Delhi Assembly LoP questioned the legitimacy of the figures. “Had this ₹1 lakh crore budget been grounded in reality—had the government truly been generating ₹1 lakh crore in revenue—the Economic Survey would have been tabled. But they didn’t present it because the data would have exposed their ‘hawa-hawai’ budget. The survey would have laid bare the truth, revealing that this budget is built on fake numbers and imaginary figures.”
Atishi threw a direct challenge at the government. “I challenge the BJP government to place the Economic Survey in the Assembly. Let them disclose the actual tax and revenue figures. Once they do, the truth about this hollow budget will be evident for all to see.”
She further criticised the budget highlighting the historic low allocation for education. She elaborated, “For the first time in ten years, education funding has been slashed to an all-time low. Under the AAP government, nearly a quarter of the budget was always allocated to education. But this year, for the first time in a decade, education has received less than 20%. ”
“The message is clear: the BJP is systematically dismantling government schools and crushing the system that provides quality education to the children of the downtrodden,” affirmed the former Delhi CM.
Atishi criticised the BJP-led Delhi government for drastically cutting the health budget as well. “The allocation for the health sector has been reduced to just 13%—the lowest in the last ten years. The BJP is systematically dismantling Delhi’s healthcare model, where every citizen, regardless of financial status, receives free treatment in government hospitals. Whether it is expensive medical procedures or free medicines and consultations at Mohalla Clinics, the BJP wants to destroy this system,” she said.
She further called out the BJP for compromising sanitation services in Delhi. “For the first time in history, the budget allocation for the MCD has been slashed from ₹8,423 crore in 2024-25 to ₹6,897 crore this year—a shocking cut of ₹1,526 crore. Never before has the MCD’s budget been reduced from one year to the next. This proves the BJP’s intent: dismantle education, wreck healthcare, and now, ruin sanitation services in Delhi.”
Atishi also slammed the tone of CM Rekha Gupta’s budget speech. “In her over 2-hour-long budget address, she spent nearly an hour and a half hurling abuses at Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP. The BJP must remember—the elections are over. They have won. Now, the people of Delhi expect them to present a vision, a plan for governance. Instead, today’s budget speech was filled with nothing but abuses and ‘jumle’ (empty rhetoric), without any concrete basis.”
Summing up her critique, Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi said, “If I were to describe this budget in one line—‘Kaam kam, jumla zyada, or paanch saal in ka gaali galoch ka iraada’ (it is all slogans, no substance and hurling abuses for upcoming five years) and we saw it in action today in the Assembly. I would urge the BJP that Delhiites have given you a mandate not for abuses and meaningless talks but to work. This budget, filled with ‘jumle’, has no focus on real work anywhere.”
