House neither shaken nor stirred

MPs felt the Budget would, in any case, be revised by a new govt

What did the Budget do to your ministry's outlay? Was justice done?" Business Standard asked a senior minister. The minister grinned and, à la Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, said, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"

Interim Budget 2014-15 neither shook, nor stirred Parliament. Members of Parliament (MPs) felt the Budget would, in any case, be revised by a new government. Most MPs questioned its political utility and the general view was it would neither advance nor hinder prospects ahead of the general elections.

Unsurprisingly, those most enthusiastic about the interim Budget were Congress MPs. Former railway minister Pawan Bansal said, "What a magnificent job the finance minister has done! He has shown despite the international downturn, there has been progress every year. This five-year period has shown a mean annual growth rate of 6.2 per cent. That under the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was much below that."

Praise from Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal was more measured. "By all parameters, it is a good Budget…In five years, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) has lifted 140 million people out of poverty. Agriculture has grown at an average annual rate of four per cent." He refuted claims the good show in agriculture was due to several good monsoons. "This government has put more money in the hands of the sower. Agricultural credit amounting to Rs 7 lakh crore has been disbursed. Minimum support price has increased. All this has fuelled growth. Which emerging market economy has shown growth of five per cent?" he asked. Outlays towards education and other social sectors showed there was no policy paralysis on the part of the government, he added.

It was clear MPs were trying to make the best they could of the truncated document. "I had been lobbying hard for 'one rank, one pension' and I am very happy it has been included in the Budget because it will have the effect of telling those from my constituency I got something for them," said Bansal, whose constituency, Chandigarh, has a large number of retired armed forces personnel.

Representatives of parties that might ally with the Congress to prevent a Bharatiya Janata Party government from coming to power in the next elections were inclined to be fair to the minister. "The Budget shows now more funds are going to states. Central assistance to plans of states and Union territories will rise from Rs 1,36,254 crore in the Budget estimates for 2013-14 to Rs 3,38,562 crore in 2014-15. So, how can I say this is not a good Budget?" asked Bhratruhari Mahtab, Rajya Sabha MP from the Biju Janata Dal. He, however, added it was a matter of concern that Plan expenditure was declining, while non-Plan expenditure was on the rise. "How can the fiscal deficit come down when this is the trend? It is not practical," he said.

He added developing states such as Bihar and Odisha had been disappointed that the recommendations of a report by Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on them hadn't been reflected in the Budget. "It would have been a way to incentivise growth."

The final word on the Budget and the events preceding it came from an exchange between Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha; and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath. "Now, you've even used the spray. What's left (of the government)?" Swaraj asked Nath, referring to the spraying of disinfectant in aircraft about to land in India and the controversy over pepper spray used in the Lok Sabha by a Congress MP.

"Wherever we go, wherever we are, we believe in leaving behind our imprimatur," Nath retorted.
Modi tears into 'hard working' FM's Budget
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Monday expressed 'disappointment' over the interim Budget presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and called it a glorified exercise in 'self-congratulation'.

Terming the vote-on-account by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government a "final act of misery after a decade of decay & policy paralysis", the Gujarat chief minister said it was now for the people of the country to decide if "Economist PM & FM have been 'hard working' or 'hardly working' in their tenure".

"The only solace one gets from the vote-on-account is that this was the UPA's final act of misery after a decade of decay & policy paralysis," he tweeted.