The 62-page speech of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the union budget made it clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been quick to learn lessons from the Lok Sabha elections and adapt to coalition politics.
The clear focus on the youth and jobs, and Andhra Pradesh and Bihar make it apparent that the BJP has decided to take head-on the issue of unemployment, which seemed to have pushed the young voters away from it in the general elections and hurt the party’s prospects. Though the Congress may say that BJP has taken a leaf out of its manifesto to offer “employment-linked incentives” and an “apprentice scheme”, the Narendra Modi government is reaching out to the youth which seemed to be gravitating towards the opposition camp, especially after the NEET paper leak issue.
“The budget is about jobs, jobs, and jobs for the youth,” BJP MP and party Yuva Morcha chief Tejasvi Surya told News18.
Budget bonanza for Bihar, Andhra
The ruling BJP has also unabashedly catered to its two key allies, the Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party, with Sitharaman prominently mentioning the “special help” worth thousands of crores given to both Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in this budget. The opposition was quick to label it an “NDA jodo budget” and “Andhra-Bihar budget” but both key allies of the BJP were thrilled to bits.
This addresses the cynicism among many that Narendra Modi would not be able to run a coalition government, and that N Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar would ultimately walk away. This budget has settled that debate, with Naidu and Kumar fully pleased, and the BJP can claim it has a more cohesive alliance than the INDIA front.
How JD(U), TDP reacted
JD(U)’s national working president Sanjay Jha told News18 that the party was totally satisfied with the allocations made for Bihar and all the requests of the party had been met. “This is just a start…Bihar will get more in the days and years to come. The biggest and most significant help is for the flood mitigation efforts. The terminology does not matter (special package or special status) as long as work is done,” Jha said. The budget announced Rs 11,500 crore for projects such as the Kosi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other schemes in Bihar including barrages, river pollution abatement, and various irrigation projects.
JD(U) MP and union minister Lallan Singh told News18 that this allocation will accelerate Bihar’s development and the Rashtriya Janata Dal was never able to get such apportionments from the UPA. “Bihar has been a backward state, we had been demanding a special status or a special package. Today’s budget has given us a special package,” Singh said.
Giriraj Singh, cabinet minister and senior BJP leader from Bihar, said Lalu Prasad Yadav never managed to get special status for Bihar from the Congress government but Narendra Modi had first given a special package to Bihar in 2015 and again now. “Bihar has been promised expressways worth Rs 26,000 crore, a new 2,400 MW power plant at a cost of Rs 21,400 crore, new airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure. Lalu should answer what he got,” Singh told News18.
TDP leader and union cabinet minister K Ram Mohan Naidu said they had to deliver on the aspirations that the people of Andhra Pradesh had and the budget had done that. “The interest of the people of the state is rebuilding the state and especially the state capital, Amravati, for which Rs 15,000 crore has been allocated today in the budget. The Polavaram project has also got a mention in the budget with the Centre saying they are taking responsibility for completing the project. The backward regions in the state have been given special focus in the budget,” he told News18.
A senior BJP leader said that the union budget has solidified the ruling National Democratic Alliance and soon a set of NDA spokespersons will also be announced. “TDP and JD(U) have realised the virtues of being with the BJP…The talk that they will walk away if they don’t get their demands in the budget is now history,” the senior union minister of the BJP said.
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