 "Arun Jaitley's Budget 2016: A view from the visitor's gallery")
Loosely translated, the lines Jaitley read out were: “Tired and defeated, they handed the oars to us/we found ourselves in the midst of a tempest and a raging tide/but we did and we will any time/show that we too know how to conquer choppy waters.”
His family — wife, Sangeeta; daughter, Sonali; son-in-law, Jayesh Bakshi; and son — were among the first to be seated in the Lok Sabha gallery. They were witness to the Congress’ attempts to raise the issue of a sedition case filed on Sunday against the party’s Vice-President Rahul Gandhi (and other Opposition leaders).
But the cries died out as Jaitley moved ahead with the Budget speech. Rahul Gandhi could only manage a grimace.
The lawmakers reserved the loudest applause for his announcements on the farm sector.
Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal performed a short salute when Jaitley announced full foreign direct investment in marketing food products made in India would be allowed through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
The parliamentarians from Karnataka and Maharashtra (two states that have seen three back-to-back years of drought) applauded Jaitley’s announcement on the creation of rural infrastructure through Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The scheme aims to connect all the villages in the country with all-weather roads in the next two or three years.
For the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme, the government has reserved Rs 38,500 crore. Also, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will insure crops.
Another announcement that was very popular was the electrification of all villages. Power Minister Piyush Goyal was the recipient of praise from Finance Minister Jaitley, who spoke fondly about his work and how his ministry had achieved targets well ahead of deadlines.
The visitor’s gallery was almost full, and the Distinguished Visitors’ Gallery — occupied by the guests invited specially by the Speaker — was packed to capacity. All of them were greeted by Sangeeta Jaitley, the wife of the finance minister.
The gallery for foreign visitors was occupied by representatives of Sweden, India’s pastern in the Make in India campaign in Mumbai; and quite unaccountably, Zambia.
A Zambian diplomat told his Swedish companions: “I want to see the reaction [of the others] when I tell them which country I am from.” Recently, there have been reports of racial abuse against Zambians in New Delhi and Bengaluru.
The chartered accountants among Jaitley’s party colleagues expressed their approval for the speech: Kirit Somaiya took furious notes, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu nodded emphatically, and Power Minister Goyal thumped the table.
After delivering a large part of the speech on his feet, the finance minister had to sit down, tired, but as the congratulations poured in afterwards, he seemed obviously happy and relieved.