2 7The lack of major relief for salaried taxpayers became instant fodder. One widely shared meme borrowed a scene from the web series Panchayat, with villagers pleading, “Aapke fund se thoda paise mil jaata toh badhiya ho jaata,” repurposed to suggest the middle class once again walked away empty-handed. The sharp hike in Securities Transaction Tax on futures and options triggered a flood of posts lamenting the pain of day trading. A split-screen viral hit showed intraday traders, long-term investors and first-time punters wearing the same defeated expression, captioned: “Budget ne sabko equal kar diya.”5 7Expectation-versus-reality themes ran through the meme wave. Pre-Budget optimism was mocked with clips of Bollywood characters singing hopeful tunes, only for the punchline to land with a blunt “kuch nahi mila”.

Source: The Telegraph February 01, 2026 12:02 UTC