| Though loaded with caustic descriptions of the Opposition, much of the substance of his defence was derived from attacks on the Budget by members of his own party and its allies in the United Progressive Alliance. |
| It was ally Devendra Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to whom he replied, pointing out that his Budget had done more for the "aam aadmi" (common man) than any previous budget (Yadav had said the Budget simply ignored the common man). |
| Detailing other "aam aadmi" features of the Budget, Chidambaram tore into the Opposition, charging it with ridiculing the common man by ridiculing the Budget. However, he did admit, not once but twice, that his government had to share a part of the blame for not meeting the power generation targets. |
| He also issued a veiled warning to cement manufacturers to stay in line with the philosophy of the market or face consequences. |
| "Out of the 12,800 words in the Budget, the Opposition concentrated only on 25 words," he pointed out, referring to inflation and pet food. Chidambaram's defence on inflation was that previous governments had performed no better. |
| What is more, he said, every time the BJP had criticised the Budget, the economy had done better. |
| "I take comfort in the fact that at least one of my predecessors shares my love for animals. The difference between us is that I have frankly admitted my concern for dogs and cats while my predecessor hid his affection in the minutae of the Finance Bill," he said, referring to the fact that it was Yashwant Sinha who first reduced customs duty on pet food. |
| "In the interest of robust and sustained economic growth of the country, may I wish Vijay Kumar Malhotra a long life, many more years in the Opposition and many more speeches opposing the Budget?" he said of the principal Opposition speaker. |
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