The Budget Session of Parliament started on January 28 with President Droupadi Murmu addressing a joint sitting. The session will have 30 sittings over 65 days, concluding on April 2. The Houses will adjourn on February 13 and reconvene on March 9 for Standing Committees to examine the demands for grants of various ministries and departments. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth Union Budget in Parliament on February 1. Most of the Opposition parties expressed strong disappointment over its provisions, contending that it fails to bring relief to the lives of ordinary citizens, as farmers, unemployed youth, and the common people have been largely neglected, and several states and key sectors ignored. On February 12, Left MPs staged a dharna in front of Makar Dwar at Parliament House in support of the general strike and raised issues related to it in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Proceedings of Parliament witnessed frequent disruptions over various issues, including the Opposition’s protest against the India-US trade deal.

Speaking on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas said the whole nation is curious, anxious about this trade deal. I have certain questions to ask. The three factors for the deal, as announced by US President Donald Trump, are: India will not buy oil from Russia, all the trade barriers should be removed and zero tariff for important items, and India will import goods worth 500 billion dollars. It translates to something like Rs 45 lakh crore. Tomorrow, it will be Rs 47 lakh crore because the rupee is plummeting. Maybe, by the time the deal is announced, it would be almost like Rs 50 lakh crore. Soon after, the US Secretary of Agriculture complimented Trump, saying, “Thank you very much for opening up India’s agriculture; let us sell our products to India.” What is being inferred? It is being feared that their soya, maize, cotton, and dairy products will flow into our country. The healthy precedent and convention of this country dictate that any policy decision or any important decision during a Parliament session should be announced on the floor of the House rather than on an X platform. So, where is this country going? I am speaking in anguish. I am not happy about it. Tomorrow Donald Trump will tell the government where to buy oil from. I am talking about the sovereignty of this great nation. We were the leader of the non-aligned nations, we never bow to anybody. The President of a country was abducted, but we were mum; on the issue of Palestine, we were mum; on the attack on Iran, we were mum; on the issue of Greenland, we were mum. Let us think about the integrity of this nation, of this great democracy. We have to answer to the people who are asking us what is happening with regard to agriculture products and dairy products.

Speaking on the general discussion on the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha, R Sachithanantham said the Budget is not merely inadequate, it is structurally anti-people and pro-corporate. At a time when workers face job losses, farmers face falling incomes, the youth face unemployment and families face rising prices, the government has chosen to protect profits instead of people. The working masses of this country are experiencing one of the worst phases of economic distress in decades. Real wages are stagnating, unorganised workers remain without security, and unemployment among the youth is alarmingly high. Yet, instead of expanding public spending to generate jobs and strengthen demand, the government is obsessed with fiscal tightening for the poor and fiscal generosity for the rich. There is no universal employment guarantee for the urban youth, no major expansion of public sector recruitment and no serious programme to revive labour-intensive industries. This is a Budget that asks the unemployed to be patient while rewarding those who already control wealth. Agriculture remains in a deep crisis. Input costs, seeds, fertilisers, fuel keep rising. Climate change is increasing crop losses. Farmers are burdened with debt. But this Budget does not provide a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price, large-scale public investment in irrigation, storage and procurement, and strong measures to reduce input costs. Instead, policies continue to open agriculture to corporate control while reducing the State's responsibility. Farmers are being pushed towards the market without protection, while big agribusinesses are given policy support. This is not a reform. This is abandonment. Now, I come to the issue of public money for private profit. This Budget clearly shows a pattern. Losses are socialised, profits are privatised. The government claims that there is no money for expanding social welfare, but there is always money when big capital demands support. Labour rights are being weakened in the name of ease of doing business. The new labour regime reduces job security, weakens collective bargaining and makes it easier for corporations to hire and fire. But where in this Budget is the protection for gig workers, contract workers, scheme workers and the vast informal workforce? Workers are treated as disposable while corporations are treated as national assets. Regarding science and research, this Budget had an opportunity to stand with workers, farmers, the youth, and the poor. It had a chance to expand public investment, generate employment, and reduce inequality. Instead, it has chosen the path of corporate-driven growth, weakened labour rights, and shrinking welfare. We believe in a different vision of India where public investment creates jobs, where farmers receive guaranteed remunerative prices, where health and education are rights, not privileges, where workers have dignity and protection, and where economic policy serves the many, not the few. This Budget fails that vision. Therefore, we strongly oppose this anti-people, pro-corporate Budget.

In the Rajya Sabha, A A Rahim said that firstly, I would like to speak for the Indian youth and my own state of Kerala.  The Indian youth are haunted by three nightmares: EMI, CIBIL score and targets. Before explaining these three nightmares, I would like to highlight the alarming and the escalating tendency of living expenditure in our country. I would also like to flag the alarming unemployment rate in India. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data, the unemployment rate is at 6.85 per cent in January 2026. This is very shameful and very alarming, before I come to the crux of these three nightmares, we must discuss the so-called job market in our country. The trends in the so-called job market during the neoliberal era are unemployment, underemployment and rapid privatization of the public sector. All three nightmares are the aftermath of these anti-youth, anti-people neoliberal policies. Contractualisation has become the new normal, which means there is no job stability. Through the Agniveer Scheme, this government has even contractualised our Army. As of 2023, the Union government had 9.64 lakh vacant posts across various departments The Economic Survey 2025 stated that regular salaried jobs declined from 22.8 per cent to 21.7 per cent. By reducing the regular salaried jobs, the government is destroying the public sector. As a result, you are pushing the Indian youth to the unorganised sector. They are facing immense hardship in the unorganised sector. Look at the IT sector and the banking sector. In the IT sector and the banking sector, employees are facing excessive work pressure and unrealistic targets. A document provided by the Bank Employees Federation of India cited a report stating that 500 bank employees lost their lives due to work pressure. I urge the government to stop contractualisation and fill up existing vacancies with immediate effect. Legislation must be brought in to ensure work-life balance, including the right to disconnect.  

I would now like to talk about Kerala. We are forced to talk about discrimination against our state which has been going on. There has been a long-standing demand for AIIMS in my state. Why are you neglecting Kerala? The Congress and the BJP are spreading false propaganda that Kerala’s debt burden is increasing. That is not the reality. The Union Budget 2026 states that the total debt burden of the Union Government would increase from Rs 1,97,18,016 crore to Rs 2,14,82,050 crore in 2026-27. But in Kerala, the debt-GDP ratio is only 34.87 per cent. The debt-to-GDP ratio of Jammu & Kashmir is 51 per cent. For Arunachal Pradesh, it is 45.9 per cent. For Punjab, it is 44.5 per cent. For Himachal Pradesh, it is 40.5 per cent. For West Bengal, it is 38 per cent and Bihar 37 per cent. Yet, the Congress and the BJP mislead the people by saying that Kerala has the highest debt-GDP ratio.

In the Lok Sabha, K Radhakrishnan opposed the Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill 2026. Today (February 12) crores of labourers have come out to protest against the anti-labour policies of the government. Indian labourers have fought during the British regime to make laws in favour of labourers. After Independence, they fought for their rights successfully. The working class secured many rights through sacrificial struggles. This was achieved by changing the long-standing notion that workers are destined only to toil, and in its place establishing the realisation that they too deserve to live with dignity. These are the rights that the NDA government has been trying to systematically eliminate since coming to power. The government is adopting an arrogant attitude, thinking they can move forward by sidelining the working class and eliminating them. That is why the government is moving forward with such an anti-worker stand. The struggle that has emerged in the country today is proof that if they are not prepared to correct these anti-worker policies, our nation will take up even greater battles to force a correction. It is not merely the workers alone. The whole country is showing solidarity for their struggle. Because this amendment is neglecting the rights of labourers. There is an extremely powerful struggle going on in our country against these hostile policies transcending caste, religion, and faith.

In the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas expressed concern over the four labour codes and said that a historic nationwide general strike is underway, even as Parliament is sitting. Crores of workers, employees, farmers, agricultural workers, from government offices to remote mines, are on the path of strike. The hard-fought and hard-won rights of the workers are snatched away in the form of labour codes. In the name of flexibility, you want to usher in contract labour, hire and fire. You should not be blaming the workers for stagnation in the industrial manufacturing sector. It is because of the haphazard policies of this government. The protest of the workers is not only for their rights but the rights of the average citizen of this country.