United front

A regime change changes many things. In the last few years of the previous government, the finance ministry and the erstwhile Planning Commission spoke at cross purposes many times- especially around the time of the annual Budget. It was speculated that the then finance minister, P Chidambaram, and the deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, didn't share the most cordial working relationship. No such chink between the finance ministry and the NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission, is visible this time around. In fact, after the first meeting of the governing council of the NITI Aayog earlier this month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was seen escorting NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya to his first press meet and also leaving the venue in his company.