oppn parties Union Budget 2023: Economy Wins As Politics Takes The Back Seat

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Union Budget 2023: Economy Wins As Politics Takes The Back Seat

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-02-02 05:46:54

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

With this being the last full budget of the NDA government and with elections scheduled to be held in April/May 2024, there was always the chance that electoral considerations would get precedence over economic prudence in this year's budget. But Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman must be commended for not playing to the gallery and presenting a growth-oriented budget. The budget has gone for fiscal consolidation, a strong push for more capital expenditure and tax reforms rather than announcing financially-bleeding grandiose schemes which seldom achieve their stated objectives.

The government will bring down fiscal deficit to 5.9% of the GDP in 2023-24 from 6.4% in 2022-23. The Finance Minister has also wisely slashed subsidies and the outgo on this will be Rs 1.47 lakh crore lesser in 2023-24 than the revised estimates for this fiscal. Other prudent measures include not raising the outgo on PM-Kisan and lowering it for MNREGA. The government will bring down the revenue deficit too - from 4.1% of the GDP to just 2.9%. These fiscal consolidation measures will stand the nation in good stead in a year when the global economic and political situation remains uncertain.

On the other hand, the tax reforms will make it attractive for those who have not switched to the new tax assessment regime. Additionally, it will put money in the hands of the salaried middle class through lower taxes. That in turn will boost demand which is crucial as exports are falling due to recessionary trends in global economies and an upswing in domestic demand is essential. Politically this will help the BJP (as the elections are due next year) without disturbing the exchequer much as the total outgo on this count will be just Rs 35000cr. The cut in the surcharge and hence the lowering of the highest effective tax rate from 42.7% to 39% is also welcome.

Capital expenditure has been raised by 33% and the push for infrastructure projects will induce private sector investment, both in the core sector (as demand for steel, cement and other building materials will rise) and in downstream industries. This will also help in job creation. The allocation for railways, highways, power and aviation sectors, among others, will boost infrastructure and build assets for the development of the nation.

Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly criticized the so-called revdi (handout) culture. This budget has walked the talk by refusing to resort to revdis. Instead, it has focussed on building infrastructure, fiscal consolidation and tax reforms. This shows that the government is more concerned about development and growth rather than short-term electoral gains. If it resists the temptation of undertaking any misadventure (like giving revdis to woo voters) before the elections (which throws the budget maths haywire), it will show that it is a responsible government and the objectives of this pragmatic budget will be achieved to a great extent. 

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