Jaitley's poetic barbs aim to mute opposition criticism of note ban

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday kept the tradition of using verses of Urdu poetry with hard nosed business and techinical jargons to present the Budget 2017-18 -- the fourth of the current BJP-led government.

"Nayi duniya hai, naya daur hai, nayi hai umang; Kuchh the pehle ke tarike to kuchh hain aaj ke dhang," Jaitley recited the lines telling the House that India has marched on to "a new world, new order, new zeal" even as some of the practices have been traditional and some modern.

The nearly two-hour budget speech announcing various measures revolved around the government's initiative to make India a digital and less-cash society after the November 8 demonetisation move which recalled high-value currency notes.

As Jaitley broke into verses, smiling for the first time during the budget presentation, members of the treasury bench greeted him with a thunderous applause.

The minister also sought to make a point about how the government made certain that "black money" came back to the Indian banking system.

"Roshni aa ke andheron se jo takrayi hai; Kaale dhan ko bhi badalna pada aaj apna rang," he said, explaining that the light that has emerged from the darkness has forced even the black money to change its colour.

"Is mod par na ghabra kar tham jaaiye aap; Jo baat nayi hai usay apnaaiye aap," he told the House asking opposition members not to stop at this juncture because time has come to adopt the change as he spoke of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for an India that is less dependent on cash.

"Darte hain nayi raah pe kyun chalne se, Hum aage aage chalte hain aaiye aap? (Why are you afraid travelling with us on this new path, we are leading the way, you should follow us)", he said in direct remarks asking opposition parties to criticise but get along with the government over its demonetisation move.

It was not known if the verses were borrowed or Jaitley's own.

The use of poetic verses, however, sparked critcism from Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi who said Jaitley's budget speech offered nothing except "shero-shayari (poetry)".

It was not the first time Jaitley used poetry to make a point and bring some color into the hardcore business jargons as he had earlier used soft lines from different poems to present his earlier budgets.

Indian parliamentarians have made poetic interventions earlier also with several former finance and railway ministers punctuating their speeches with Hindi and Urdu poetry.

--IANS

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