At its core, the 1997-98 Budget has succeeding in stealing the BJPs and the Congress partys thunder. By carrying the process of reforms forward which the Congress was unable to after 1993, by appearing to champion the cause of Indian industry which the BJP has made its USP, and by placing a protective cloak around some parts of the public sector which the communists regard as a holy cow, Mr Chidambaram appears to have de-fanged his political critics. No longer can he and his government be accused of the sort of thing his illustrious predecessor was accused of, namely, of being anti-poor, anti-public sector and anti-Indian business. As such, neither the Congress nor the communists will have a credible reason to attack the government. If they nevertheless persist, they will merely appear churlish and foolish. The BJP, of course, will continue to do so but, in its heart of hearts, it will know that its attacks lack conviction. All this ought to make it easier for the government to get through the legislative agenda in the Budget session.
In a fundamental sense, therefore, Mr Deve Gowda may have shifted the focus of political attack from economics to the more traditional political arena. Now, if the government can only keep prices under check the wholesale price index has doubled since the UF government presented its first Budget in July 1996 it ought to be able to depoliticise much of economic policy, which the Congress never managed to do. As a perfect combination of offensive and defensive political tactics goes, the 1997-98 Budget will be hard to surpass. This is no mean achievement for which Mr Deve Gowda deserves credit.
There is clearly a lesson in this which future governments should observe: good politics now means getting the government off the peoples backs. In a substantial way on the policy side, this is what the 1997-98 Budget has done. If the government can now turn its attention to making its interface with the public less harrowing by simplifying procedures for what ought to be simple transactions, but are currently based on mistrust, it will have gone a long way towards earning the trust of the people.
