My Budget: Sorabh Pant

A short interview with the stand-up comedian to gauge how Budget will impact people

Do you think the Budget will revive the economy? 

It better help revive the economy. BJP governments have always tried to introduce transparency in monetary transactions and this Budget takes it further. It looks like more people will be brought into the tax bracket post this Budget.

What was the best thing about the Budget?

It is better than last time. It was the last opportunity for Arun Jaitley to really present a good Budget. Among the things that were good were encouraging people to go digital. The decision to restrict political funding in cash to less than Rs 2,000 is a good thing. 

And the worst?

There is little that you can criticise about this Budget. The decision to bring taxation of the Rs 2.5 - 5 lakh category down from 10 to 5 per cent is a little vague.

Will the Budget fetch political gains for the Narendra Modi government?

It did seem like an election campaign. It looks like a pro-poor Budget, and some of the promises seem to have been made keeping the upcoming state elections in mind.