Among the many expert comments on the new government's maiden Budget, A K Bhattacharya's column "Jaitley's 16,173 word balancing act" (Raisina Hill, July 14) employs the unconventional analysis, based on the use (or non-use) of different words in the finance minister's long speech, to dig into the hidden meaning. The repetition of words signifies emphasis and so greater use of words such as development, growth and projects reveals the importance the government attaches to them.
Let us not use the length of past Budget speeches as a benchmark to judge the merit of the current speech, but look at it from the perspective of content. Arun Jaitley did not quote poets nor indulge in rhetoric. He found it fit to explain the rationale of every mini- and mega-scheme. What the speech lacked was sustaining the listener's interest.
Y G Chouksey Pune
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