Union Budget 2018 shows Modi govt could be preparing for early elections

On a day it is on course to lose Ajmer and Alwar, Modi govt learns lessons from Gujarat verdict to reach out to farmers, rural poor, youth

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s fifth and final Union Budget of the current term of the Narendra Modi government was evidence that the top BJP leadership has drawn the right lessons from its tenuous poll victory in Gujarat in December.

In Gujarat, the BJP had to face the ire of farmers for agrarian distress, of youth for lack of job opportunities and of the MSMEs (the micro, small and medium enterprises sector). The Budget has reached out to these key sectors. 

The middle class, a strong support base of the BJP, is likely to be disappointed that no significant tax exemptions