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Chidambaram turns the tables on the Opposition

Anita Joshua

By giving small and marginal farmers a bonanza, he takes the wind out of NDA, UNPA sails

NEW DELHI: All week, the National Democratic Alliance and the United National Progressive Alliance had in one voice held up proceedings in Parliament over the plight of farmers, demanding a waiver of their loans.

But, when that demand was met by Union Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram on Friday in his budget for 2008-09, the change in the Opposition parties’ mood was perceptible.

Some constituents of the two coalitions remained silent — unwilling to be seen joining in the evident joy in the Congress benches, but equally reluctant to protest the bonanza for small and marginal farmers — while others sought to nit-pick; first demanding details and then insisting that “farmers are farmers” and no distinction ought to be made on the size of their holdings.

Given the momentum that the demand for loan waivers had acquired over the past week, the Finance Minister unveiled the package slowly; building suspense and allowing his party colleagues enough time to revel in the moment.

The cheerleader in this case was the “baba-log bench” (the bench that has by default become reserved for the young Congressmen who have followed their parents into Parliament).

As Mr. Chidambaram read out the details, a roar of joy went up from the Congress benches with even Ministers joining the standing ovation. Among the Ministers, Kapil Sibal, Renuka Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh were particularly vocal. Even Congress president Sonia Gandhi was unrestrained in her applause and could be seen telling the Opposition to pipe down. Relishing the moment, Mr. Chidambaram told the Opposition: “There is no point shouting… sit down… what is the point of shouting?”

“Rare honour”

Upbeat from the start, Mr. Chidambaram could not hide his joy at matching a record held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: presenting all five Budgets on behalf of a government. It is a “rare honour that I have the privilege to share with only one of my distinguished predecessors — Dr. Manmohan Singh,” he said.

Again, he brought in a bit of himself into the budget speech ahead of Part B which contains the tax proposals. Referring to the increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio from 9.2 per cent in 2003-04 to an anticipated 12.5 per cent at the end of this fiscal, he reeled out reasons for this and added for good measure “in a lighter vein” that “having a lucky Finance Minister may have also helped.”

Smooth run

Barring the brief round of protests that he encountered while announcing the loan waivers and an attempt by Shiv Sena member Anant Geete at the very start to raise the farmers’ issue, Mr. Chidambaram had a fairly smooth run during the hour and 50 minutes that he held centre stage.

Apart from making the usual announcements, Mr. Chidambaram also used his Budget speech this time to showcase the flagship programmes of the UPA in a bid to show that the “four years to 2007-08 have been the best years so far.”

But, quoting Jawaharlal Nehru and his favourite Tiruvalluvar one after the other, he signed off by holding out a promise of an even better year. “The best is yet to come,” he said, wrapping up a “please-all” budget that sounded like a bugle for an election.

Text of Finance Minister's speech

Union Budget - Photo Gallery

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