This Budget holds significance, in the wake of the NDA-led Modi government facing eight Assembly elections in 2018 and preparing for May 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
On Thursday, Arun Jaitley will become fifth Finance Minister joining the exclusive league of Manmohan Singh, Yashwant Sinha, P Chidambaram and Morarji Desai, who past 71 years have presented five consecutive Budgets. This Budget holds significance, in the wake of the NDA-led Modi government facing eight Assembly elections in 2018 and preparing for May 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Ahead of walking into the Lok Sabha to begin his Budget speech, Union Cabinet under Prime Minister Modi will meet to approve the Finance Bill. As his speech begins, 100-odd people of the Budget and printing division of the Finance Ministry and translators from Press Information Bureau (PIB) will be allowed to walk out form North Block, who had been quarantined there over past eight days to avoid any leakage.
While the Budget is slated at 11 a.m, but Jaitely may have to for some time for an obituary reference by the Speaker. The jinx greets the finance minister once again for the second running year since he switched over to the budget presentation on the first day of February. Senior Maharashtra MP Chintaman Wanaga (67) from the reserved Scheduled Tribe Palghar constituency died here on Tuesday before being hospitalised. Last year hours before presentation of Budget former minister and Kerala MP E. Ahmed had passed away. The House is normally adjourned for the day as a mark of respect after the obituary reference to the passing away of the sitting member. But since the Budget has been scheduled on the day, it will not be adjourned. Last time, Speaker said, she was not adjourning the House for the day as an exceptional situation since the sitting had been specially fixed by the President for presentation of the Union Budget, "which is a constitutional obligation." In 1974, the then finance minister YB Chavan went ahead presenting the Budget even though a minister MB Rana had died.
Since it is the last full-fledged Budget of the current government, Jaitley may have to present a "please all" document. The corporate sector wants him to live up to the promise to reduce the corporate tax, middle class expects him to raise the basic exemption as otherwise even one drawing a little more than the minimum wage of Rs 19,000 per month in Delhi becomes a tax-payer. His own party expect him to focus on agriculture in view of the warning signals from last year's Gujarat Assembly elections. Prime Minister Modi has himself expressed concern over negligible job creation and hence Jaitley may focus on industrial investment, infrastructure, banking and disinvestment of public sector enterprises.
Exclusive Club
- Arun Jaitley will become fifth Finance Minister after Manmohan Singh, Yashwant Sinha, P Chidambaram and Morarji Desai, who for the past 71 years have presented five consecutive Budgets.
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