Veteran politician and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Thursday turned to Coldplay-inspired metaphors to criticise Union Budget 2025 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month.
Sharing a reel on Instagram, Tharoor said, “Coldplay says ‘Fix You,’ but the Finance Minister says ‘Tax You’…and politely asks you to adjust.”
But the Coldplay metaphors do not stop there. “If only the budget shone as brightly as Coldplay’s lyrics. Instead, it’s more like The Scientist, full of promises but ultimately leaves us with one question — where did we go wrong? And as for the deficit, even my moon goggles can’t turn this disaster into a ‘sky full of stars’. Now we’re getting instead is a spreadsheet, full of scars,” says Tharoor sporting a pair of blue “moon” glasses.
He can also be seen holding budget papers as he goes on to say, “Even Chris Martin wouldn’t be able to find Paradise in these numbers. But don’t worry, they’ll still say, ‘Look at the stars, look at how they are shining for you,’ while conveniently dimming the light of reality—and on our bank accounts.”
“As the budget debate wraps up, let’s cut through the noise and face the facts: The GST still crushes essential items, income tax cuts are framed as a favour, and fuel prices remain a tangled mess of VAT, excise, and state taxes—with no real effort to fix the system. Who actually wins here? People don’t mind taxes—if they bring value. We need policies that drive real growth, not just short-term fixes. Because right now, “nobody said it was easy”,” he captioned the reel.
