PM Modi Has Vishwas on ‘Sabka Saath’: Interim Budget Low on Populist Sops Even in LS Poll Year

The interim budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was low on populism and high on messaging, underlining the confidence of the Narendra Modi government that it is returning to power later this year with a thumping majority.

Many Ministers, led by Sitharaman, also said that it will be the Modi government which will present the full budget after the Lok Sabha elections, presuming the win in 2024 polls.

“In the full budget in July, our government will present a detailed roadmap four our pursuit of Viksit Bharat,” the finance minister said in her budget speech.

Outside Parliament, top ministers exuded the same confidence. “We will be back with a bigger majority than 2019. The mood of the people is only for Narendra Modi. That is why we say this government will present the full budget in July,” Union Minister Kiren Rijiju told News18.

Another senior minister told News18 that the interim budget has attended to concerns of the poor, farmers and Nari Shakti, but resisted the urge to give out sops in form of a poll bonanza for voters. “Even our opponents are saying the interim budget has nothing much…they are right to the extent that it has no poll sops like in times of UPA,” the Minister said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said it publicly that he would be back as the Prime Minister for the third time with a bigger majority. The government has resisted demands from various quarters to give relief in the income tax regime for the middle-class, increase payout under the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme, whose rollout was announced in the last budget, or reduce the fuel prices.

The Modi government, however, has taken the step to extend the popular PM Housing Scheme for the poor by another five years and add two crore houses to the existing allocation of three crore houses, and adding ASHA workers to the ambit of the Ayushman medical insurance scheme. “There were valid grounds to do so as per feedback,” a source argued.

The focus of the interim budget remains on taking forward the growth and development journey and hence the capital expenditure budget has been increased again by over 11 per cent to an outlay of Rs 11 lakh crore to keep the infrastructure engine running.

Public-interest ideas, like rooftop solarization, bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry, and making cervical cancer vaccination cheaper, have been focused upon in the interim budget. Allocation for key programmes close to the government’s heart, including MGNREGA, Ayushman Bharat, Production Linked Incentive Scheme, Programme for development of semi-conductors, solar power and national green hydrogen mission, has been significantly increased, showing the modernistic approach of the Modi government.

The interim budget has a clear message – that this is only a trailer for the main budget coming from the same government in July and a development approach has taken over from populism.