Union Budget: BJP Shows It Has Been Quick to Learn Lessons from Lok Sabha Polls on Youth, Coalition Politics
Top JD(U) and TDP leaders while speaking with News Channels expressed full satisfaction with the budget.
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 News channels
Budget contributions to Bihar and Andhra
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has also unashamedly accommodated the wishes of its two main allies, the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party. Sitharaman made special mention of the "special assistance" given to both Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in this budget, amounting to several crores. Opposition parties were quick to label it the "NDA-Jodh Budget" and the "Andhra-Bihar Budget", but both Bharatiya Janata Party's main allies were enthusiastic.
This addresses the cynicism of many who fear that Narendra Modi is incapable of leading a coalition government and that N. Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar will eventually step down. This budget has settled that debate. Naidu and Kumar are perfectly happy. And the Bharatiya Janata Party can claim that its alliance is more united than the Indian Front.
Reactions from the JD(U) and TDP
JD(U) national president Sanjay Jha told News18 that the party is completely satisfied with the allocation for Bihar and all the party's demands have been met. "This is just the beginning... There will be a lot more to come in Bihar in the coming days and years. The biggest and most important assistance is flood control. The terminology doesn't matter (special package or special status etc) as long as the work gets done," Jha said. The budget announced Rs 11,500 crore for projects like Koshi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other schemes in Bihar, including dams, river pollution control and various irrigation projects. Union minister Lallan Singh, MP from
D(U), told News channels that the allocation will give a boost to Bihar's development and that the Rashtriya Janata Dal had not been able to get such an allocation from the UPA so far. "Bihar is a backward state and we demanded special status, special package. Today's budget has given us a special package," Singh said.
Giriraj Singh, a Bihar cabinet minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party politician, said Lalu Prasad Yadav failed to get special status for Bihar from the Congress government but Narendra Modi gave Bihar a special package for the first time in 2015 and now again. "Bihar has been promised highways worth Rs 26,000 crore, a new 2.4 million kW power plant at Rs 21,400 crore, a new airport, a medical college and sports infrastructure. Lalu should answer for what he has got.
