Why Opposition's Task Has Been Made A Bit Tougher

With three years to go before the next general elections, the Narendra Modi government has unveiled what many think is an answer to the charge that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has been levelling – that "it’s a suit boot ki sarkar”, that “it’s for the rich and industrialists”.

In coming out with a Budget with focus clearly on a distressed rural India, the Modi government has sought to dispel the notion that it’s anti-farmer, anti-poor. This is especially crucial because the BJP faces elections in five states (though the party is a bit player in four of these).

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hit the nail on the head when he said that the Modi government through this Budget, "has made the Opposition’s task a bit tougher"!

Many, like independent Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar feel that of the three Union Budgets that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented so far, "this best reflects the priorities of the Modi government".

In a way, this is true. The BJP, in its election manifesto, talks about doubling the farmers’ income by 2022. The Budget appears to be taking concrete steps towards the objective.

Rural India, including the much-debated MGNREGA scheme, get a lion’s share in the Budget. The scheme has been allocated Rs 38,500 crore – the highest amount spent on the scheme so far.

A sum of Rs 87,765 crore has been allocated for rural development, including Rs 35, 984 crore for farmers’ welfare. A sum of Rs 19,000 crore has been allocated for a central scheme for rural roads. NABARD has been roped in to augment the irrigation network. An initial sum of Rs 20,000 has been allocated for it.

The government seeks for targeted subsidy to reach the rural poor – in terms of LPG cylinders for BPL families Rs 2000 cr has been allocated), targeted health insurance for the rural poor, and the already announced crop insurance scheme.

Charan Singh's Book
As someone noted in a lighter vein, the first half an hour of Jaitley’s speech could have been taken straight from Chaudhary Charan Singh’s book!

It’s just not the anti-farmer charge that the Modi government has sought to fight.

In the wake of Rohit Vemulla’s suicide, the Modi government has had to fight the charge of being anti-Dalit.

Jaitley’s Budget seeks to counter the charge. He has allocated a sum of Rs 500 crore to produce more entrepreneurs from the SC / ST communities, in the hope that 2.5 lakh new entrepreneurs will be created. The decision has been taken in consultations with the Dalit Industrial Chambers of Commerce, and the decision will coincide with the 125th anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar. SCs and STs will also be encouraged to set up MSMEs.

Top industry body Assocham said the government has realised that a sustainable and equitable growth model cannot be built as long as the rural economy is in distress.

"With successive monsoon failures, the farm sector was in distress and the Finance Minister has tilted the balance in favour of the agriculture sector. This would certainly yield dividends for the entire economy and provide a solid foundation for a robust economy," Assocham president Sunil Kanoria said.

The Modi government also seems to have concrete measures towards kick-starting infrastructure expansion.

A sum of Rs 220,000 crore has been earmarked for infrastructure expansion (including both rail and road network), and the prescription is in line with what many including BJP’s Yashwant Sinha have been advocating that the government needs to increase public spending on infrastructure.

As far as creating a perception is concerned, the Budget’s advocacy for making the super-rich cough up more is in lie with its pro-poor, pro-rural India thrust. Super rich tax surcharge for those earning Rs 1 crore per annum goes up to 15 per cent, and SUVs become costlier.

That the Union Budget is for the Aam Aadmi saw many Opposition leaders groping for responses.

Immediately after the Budget was read out, Rahul Gandhi chose not react to it, when asked about it. Some other Congress leaders claimed that many of UPA’s schemes had been carried forward, while some of them said it lacked a big, coherent idea.

Former PM Manmohan Singh said it was a mixed bag Budget, with no central idea. He however claimed that the government’s announcement that farmers’ income would be doubled in the next five years was an impossible idea.

Many other Opposition leaders, including those from the Left, were seen similar observations in their initial comments, in a way, proving Abdullah right – that they would find it difficult to critique the Budget.