Budget 2026: 'Hum se bhi zyaada dukhi…,' netizens have a field day after Sitharaman's 9th Union Budget speech

Budget 2026 | Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s presented her ninth consecutive Budget in the Parliament on February 1 2026. The Finance Minister emphasised that the government has consistently chosen reform over rhetoric and addressed global uncertainty.

The policy announcements in this Budget were a mixed bag, welcomed by some sectors but met with raised eyebrows by others. While analysts broke down fiscal arithmetic and projections, another phenomenon was already underway online: Numerous creative budget memes began flooding timelines over X, formerly known as Twitter.

On one side, there were memes about the middle class and tax changes, from hopeful jokes about extra take-home salary to tongue-in-cheek expectations that the government will “tax happiness next.”

Then there were memes poking fun at how budgets are traditionally long and filled with complex terms. Some posts imagined viewers trying to decode lines like “fiscal deficit” or “capital expenditure” with confused faces, while others joked that only economists could understand the Budget without subtitles.

Union Budget 2026 highlights

The Finance Minister did not announce any changes to personal income tax slabs. The decision signalled continuity and fiscal caution, even as salaried taxpayers took to social media to express disappointment. Besides this, the Income Tax Act, 2025 will be implemented from April 1, for which the rules and tax returns forms will be notified shortly.

The government said the move aims to simplify compliance and modernise India’s tax framework. The Budget placed fresh emphasis on the creative and cultural economy or Orange Economy, including media, content creation, gaming, design, and digital arts. Announcements around institutions like the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies highlighted the government’s intent to tap India’s creative potential as an economic growth driver.

At close, it was a bloodbath at the D-Street as Sensex fell 1,564.84 points to 80,722.94 whereas Nifty fell 495.20 points to 24,825.45.