Being sober

The Union budget, 2013-14, was not the pre-election pander that was widely expected. It did not appear to be a budget that blows the bugle for early polls. For the most part, in fact, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram placed fiscal responsibility over the temptation to please the electorate with blowout schemes. This time, arguably, prudence and greater ownership of reform have been forced upon the UPA. The government has no choice but to mind the fiscal deficit, which it is hoping to bring down to 4.8 per cent of the GDP next year. In terms of political messaging, then, the biggest takeaway from the budget may be this: against mounting odds, the government has signalled an intent to last its full term. This message may have taken the electricity out of the air, and the anticipation of early polls.

That is not to say that the UPA eschewed all political signalling in this budget. It made a pitch to sections that the Congress appears to have finally resolved to address. Creating a PSU bank for women, ostensibly to address the financial exclusion that many of them confront, as well as earmarking a special fund for their safety, is a political gesture. It is possible to argue that it is only a rote, token nod in response to the rage that was recently visible on the streets. Yet, it also signals the growing pressure on the political party to address women's concerns, separately and specially — or at any rate, to be seen to be doing so. The budgetary provisions follow the Congress's Jaipur declaration, which also made a show of prioritising women's concerns. Another shift in the UPA's budget was towards foregrounding aspiration. Chidambaram's budget makes an effort to dispel the idea that the Congress disdains the young, the urban and the middle class — the newly demanding demographics that feel alienated by the political establishment. Schooling and skilling were stressed in the budget, as were labour reform and the need for more jobs.

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