FM’s no-frills pre-poll Budget stumps Opposition

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, February 1

Both the treasury and Opposition MPs were caught off guard on Thursday when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ended her Interim Budget speech in under an hour, 56 minutes to be precise.

Among her five Budget presentations since 2020, this was the shortest. Opposition MPs were particularly stumped at the no-frills, no-sops Budget in an election year.

“They look confident of a win, as if they don’t need new announcements to impact poll results. That said, we welcome the fact that the Finance Minister, in a rare pre-poll move, has maintained the decorum of a vote on account. Her Interim Budget was as an election year document should be short, crisp and a statement of government intent rather than a high frill Budget full of sops,” NK Premchandran, veteran Left Front MP of the opposition RSP, said, praising the minister.

Earlier, the Lok Sabha wore a dull, dreary look as Sitharaman, dressed in a crisp Bengali Kantha saree, made an elegant delivery, her tone tempered unlike in the past when she would make it a point to rouse some passion and needle the Opposition. But today was not that day.

The only time the House erupted in frenzy on Thursday was when PM Modi arrived for the budget presentation amid chants of “Jai Shree Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai” by ruling BJP MPs. After the PM settled, the noise settled too.

It returned on five occasions when Sitharaman credited PM Modi for ensuring a comprehensive GDP (an acronym for growth, development, performance) in the past 10 years of NDA rule.

The loudest cheer from the treasury came when Sitharaman announced details of the PM Suryodaya Scheme that aims to guarantee free power for one crore houses by way of solar rooftop panels. It was later learnt that the FM’s choice of a turquoise blue saree was conscious. The colour she wore is called “Rama Neelam” (the blue of Lord Rama’s skin) in Tamil Nadu, Sitharaman’s native state.

As she spoke, FM’s daughter Vangmai Parkala and two family members watched from the gallery. The Opposition benches wore a thin attendance with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and DMK leader TR Baalu seated in the main front row and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, currently on Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra, conspicuous by his absence.

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