Bhubaneswar, Feb 20 (IANS) Leader of Opposition and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik slammed the annual state budget presented in the assembly on Friday by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, calling the budget ‘full menu in an empty kitchen’.

Speaking to media persons on the budget outside the house, the former CM said, “What can I say about this budget. It sounds to me like a full menu in an empty kitchen.”

Meanwhile, senior leader of the Biju Janata Dal, Dibya Shankar Mishra, criticised the Odisha Budget 2026-27, alleging that it lacks new policy direction, financial clarity, and concrete measures for employment generation in Odisha.

Mishra stated that the budget speech lasted for nearly two hours but failed to introduce any significant new initiatives for the people of the state.

The BJD MLA further claimed that several schemes announced in the budget lack a clear financial allocation and execution roadmap.

He also alleged that there are no special or impactful measures for women, social development, or vulnerable sections.

“Most of the planning and programs that have been elaborated in the budget don’t have any financial provisions. That’s the worst part. No special benefit schemes for the SC and STs, the weaker section of society. For women’s empowerment, they have done nothing except direct benefit schemes. For the generation of employment in the state, nothing new has come in,” alleged Mishra.

The opposition Congress also criticised the annual state budget for 2026-27, raising concerns over the rising loan burden and the government’s failure to fully utilise funds allocated in the previous budget.

“You can’t increase the size of an empty budget. A government that has spent only 57 per cent of its total expenditure in the first 10 months of the current financial year cannot be proud of allocating over Rs. 20,000 crore in the upcoming financial year. A budget as big as an elephant, but spending like a mosquito,” said Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Bhakta Charan Das.

Labelling the state government inept and the 2026-27 budget disappointing, the OPCC president questioned whether citizens are safe under a government that has raised the state’s debt to Rs. 91,000 crore in just two budgets.

–IANS

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