The happy meal Budget

Dr Suvrokamal Dutta the TV personality, economic expert and political critic says the government is going to roll it out for the aam aadmi this Budget ahead of polls

Dr Suvrokamal Dutta the TV personality, economic expert and political critic says the government is going to roll it out for the aam aadmi this Budget ahead of polls

Aam aadmi can prepare to get pampered. The current interim Budget, timed tantalisingly ahead of the Lok

Paisa fek, tamasha dekh: Is the government ready to roll out wads to roll in the votes? Pic/File

Sabha elections, would see the comeback of Congress' favourite electoral cardu00a0aam aadmiu00a0that Mama Sonia and her baby boy Rahul have so well inherited.

In the last electoral budget of 2004, the NDA had showcased 'India Shining' and 'the Feel Good factor', and regretted. Congress this time will tom-tom 'Bharat nirman'. Poll results will tell.

For quite some time, the UPA government has been doling out sops to overcome the economic crises. This has shown mixed results. Are doles the only solution? Who has the time in a government at its fag end of term to study all that?

To be fair, any government going to elections would have gone on lavish announcement sprees. Sonia must have told Manmohan: "Yeh politics hain baba, economics nahin. Aur Rahul baba ko launch karna hai isliye sops do."

Bail-outs since last Budget, starting with Rs 70,000 crore loan waiver to farmers, have made the government coffers nearly empty. The bailout the government announced last month has left it poorer by Rs 40,000 crore.

While BJP talks "Ram, Ram", the Congress will chant "Lakshmi, Lakshmi".

The government is likely to extend tax concessions to technology parks and 100 per cent export units beyond March 2010. Infotechies may yet hold on to their jobs.

The government is likely to clarify on tax exemption to natural gas producers such as Reliance Industries, ONGC and GSPC. Cooking gas, among other things, may pinch less.

The government will maintain or might increase the defence expenditure, which is currently at 2.5 percent of GDP. There might be new sops and pay hikes for the defence forces as they are not happy with the Sixth Pay Proposals.

Cars may also be cheaper as the government is considering an excise duty cut for auto components, automobile and cement sectors.

The IT units set up under the SEZ Act under the parent companies likely to get 100 percent tax holiday.

The government is likely to propose raising social sector spending by more than 16 percent, increasing the annual plan by about 400 billion rupees. This is likely to benefit programmes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Bharat Nirman and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Investors and broker may smile as the finance ministry it seems has drafted a proposal to remove the securities transaction tax (STT). At present a 0.125 percent tax is levied on all transactions of securities traded on stock exchanges and for derivatives, STT stands at 0.017 percent.

The government will keep the media happy too.

It is likely to announce a bail-out package for the industry to overcome the economic meltdown.

So, for the moment, all can tango as Rahul's poll caravan rolls, at least till the next harsh winter.