The Hindu : National : You won’t be kind on me: Chidambaram

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You won’t be kind on me: Chidambaram

New Delhi: Indicating a budget that could be harsh on the people, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Tuesday that the reactions could not be “kind” enough when he presents the Union Budget next month.

“I have not started working on it [the budget] yet. All I know is that you would not be so kind to me on February 29,” he said here at an awards ceremony when asked whether there would be any tax cuts in the coming budget.

Mr. Chidambaram is scheduled to present the union budget for the next fiscal on February 29. He, however, did not clarify why the reaction would not be “so kind” to the budget.

The Finance Minister said 2007 had been good for everyone, including tax collectors. “I hope 2008 will be better.”

He was answering queries after receiving the “Politician of the Year” award from television channel CNN-IBN.

On whether he was worried about the volatility in the stock market, he said, “I am not worried about the market going up and down.”

After the award was conferred on him, Mr. Chidambaram said, “I know that politics is a very different and difficult vocation. Yet if so many are [there] in politics, it is because at the end of the day we believe that something can be achieved through politics.”

“Politics is not about individual achievements or collective achievements, politics is about bringing everything together so that we can make a great country,” he said. “I am quite proud to be in politics and proud to be called a politician.”

State Bank of India Chairman O.P. Bhatt was given the “Businessman of the Year” award and Vodafone’s CEO Arun Sarin was awarded the “Global Indian of the Year.”

“2007 was a big year for Vodafone because we came to India,” Mr. Sarin said from London. He said India was on a roll, and the company was enjoying its presence in the country. Vodafone would like to serve the country for many years, he added.

Mr. Bhatt said SBI was the most valued bank in India and was striving to figure in the top 10 banks of the world. — PTI

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