Congress leader Shashi Tharoor aggressively took on the role of an advocate for his home state Kerala after the Union Budget 2026-27 was unveiled by the Finance Minister on Sunday. Nirmala Sitharaman. He even called for an online campaign on X with the hashtag #InvisibleKerala.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor after presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament in New Delhi on Sunday, February 1, 2026. (Photo by Ravi Chowdhury/PTI)”As an MP from Kerala’s capital (Thiruvananthapuram), I see that our state budget was built on a vision of central funds which today’s central budget has clearly failed to deliver,” Tharoor said, seeking to pin both the BJP-led NDA and communist-led regimes LDF in Kerala.
The state is going to polls soon, and the Congress-led UDF hopes to vacate the opposition benches and replace the LDF on the treasury side in the assembly.
Recently seen Tharoor Made with central Congress leadershipapparently there is Chief Minister’s Ambition Tied with that.
“Sadly, malayali Caught between a Center oblivious to our woes and a state government in denial of its own fiscal inclinations. We need an alternative that commands respect in Delhi and provides development in Kerala. Right now, we have neither,” Tharoor wrote in X.
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“There is nothing in this budget that satisfies me As a Malayali” he told news agency PTI.
On his X handle, his series of posts addressed many issues.
“A state that contributes so strongly to the country’s foreign exchange reserves, skilled workforce and soft power, Kerala seems completely invisible in the Centre’s fiscal vision. An ‘invisible Kerala budget’ in an election year is a message in itself,” he posted.
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“Though three new NIPERs (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) have been announced, there is no clarity on their location. With multiple NIPERs in North and East India and only one serving the entire South (Hyderabad), despite having a strong public health ecosystem, denying Kerala a NIPER will deepen the regional disparity.”
He also talked about the environment. “Our coastline is eroding — we are losing real Indian territory to the sea every year. If it were a land border, it would be a defense emergency. On the coast, it is met with indifference. No ‘battle-approach’ package for coastal protection suggests that the Center takes Kerala’s geography for granted. And continues to behave step-motherly towards coastal communities.”
He appreciated the announcement of seven new high-speed rail corridors, but added that “Kerala’s glaring exclusion is overwhelming”.
“The Center ignores us, and the state proposes paper projects which it cannot afford. Our passengers are left with nothing. We need real trains, not new acronyms,” he added.
He called it a “deafening silence” on the issue of an AIIMS for Kerala. “Even the promise of an All India Ayurveda Institute remains a mirage as there is no mention of Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram’s potential as a medical center is being systematically stifled,” he alleged.
He said he got a “disturbing sense of deja vu” from FM’s speech.
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In an interview, she drew the analogy of cricket – one of the author and former global diplomat’s interests – to express her frustration over the budget, saying Nirmala Sitharaman “seems to have missed the ball”.
Tharoor also said that the BJP-led NDA did not focus on Kerala’s neighbor Tamil Nadu, another anti-nationalist-ruled state in South India.
“Though there were sub-headings about fisheries, cashews and coconuts which could benefit us. We assume it will benefit us, but we haven’t seen it yet and certainly Kerala has not been named… So as a Kerala MP, I must say that I have nothing to be happy about in this budget,” he told PTI.
