A different election Budget

We must also acknowledge a certain middle class approach this government takes to managing the economy

A finance minister presenting the Budget on the eve of a major election braces herself for that familiar charge: This is an election Budget. How does Nirmala Sitharaman’s latest Budget answer that question? Let’s steal the answer from Sir Humphrey’s playbook: It is an election Budget and it isn’t. It depends on your perspective.

This is not an election Budget in the sense that I might target the voter in the coming elections. No large yojanas or giveaways for farmers (Western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab), no increase in direct benefit transfers or other relief payouts, and definitely nothing by way of