Budget 2023-24: Focus aligns with BJP support base of middle class, women, youth

The Budget, the last full one before the Narendra Modi government goes for the next Lok Sabha elections, also appeared to have kept as target its support base in the forthcoming state elections, with key announcements for tribals, youth, women and the middle class. For the last group, income tax slabs have been rejigged under the new tax regime with a rebate on income of upto Rs 7 lakh a year, up from Rs 5 lakh.

With the party gearing up for a fierce fight to retain power in Karnataka, Sitharaman announced a central assistance of Rs 5,300 crore for the state. In fact, Karnataka is the only state she referred to in her Budget speech. “In the drought prone central region of Karnataka, central assistance of Rs 5,300 crore will be given to the Upper Bhadra Project, to provide sustainable micro-irrigation and filling up of surface tanks for drinking water,” she said, triggering angry cries of “Election, election, Karnataka election” from the Opposition benches.

The announcement on a 66 per cent increase in the outlay for the PM Awas Yojana — a scheme that has fetched the party goodwill and votes in recent Assembly elections — to over Rs 79,000 crore, could also help the party in its electioneering in the states.

At a time when the BJP government is under fire for alleged violations of India’s federal structure by “centralising” power, an attempt has also been made to further co-opt the states with greater flexibility, by relaxing their borrowing limits — contingent on power sector reforms, as well as increasing their capital expenditure limits, which could together have a trickle down effect on the economy.

PM Modi was among the first to hail the Budget, saying it has given priority to deprived sections, and will fulfill the dreams of the aspirational society, farmers and the middle class.

“The first Budget of Amrit Kaal will build a strong foundation for building a developed India. It gives priority to the deprived. This Budget will fulfil the dreams of an aspirational society, including poor people, middle class people, and farmers. I congratulate Nirmala Sitharaman and her team for this historic Budget,” he said in a televised address.

With the BJP keen on protecting its middle class support base, announcements made in the Budget are not only expected to please the middle class, but also provide a boost to the economy via the expected increase in consumption due to the rebate on personal income tax. Under the new tax regime, Sitharaman gave tax relief to those with annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh, but has announced no relief for those who continue in the old regime, which already allows tax exemptions and deductions on investments, and expenses such as HRA. She said the announcement on personal income tax will “primarily benefit our hard-working middle class”.

Sources in the BJP said there were views within the party that the government’s focus on pro-poor welfare measures and initiatives in the last few years have left the middle class dissillusioned. “Inflation and unemployment have upset this section. There is a demand from a large section of the party that we should address concerns of the middle class. They are of the view that the party is focussing too much on backward castes, and can further ignore the middle class only at a huge cost. Already, in states like Himachal Pradesh, we have faced the wrath of the middle class. Also, if the middle class gets more money in their hands, it could help the economy flourish,” said a party MP.

Retaining the BJP’s hold over the middle class is also important at a time when the party is trying to expand its electoral reach in the southern states, he said.

The BJP’s recent thrust on tribal outreach is also reflected in this Budget. “To improve the socio-economic conditions of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), we’ll launch the Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission. This will saturate PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities, such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities,” she said, adding that an amount of Rs 15,000 crore would be available for a development plan targeting STs.

The BJP has been focussing on consolidating its tribal support base, as the community is a decisive factor in several constituencies in the northeastern states, as well as Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which will go to the polls later this year.

Both the PM and the party have given indications that the women electorate – who Modi says backed the BJP in state elections as a silent vote bank – is a target support base that needs to be consolidated. In her almost 90 minutes-long Budget speech, Sitharaman emphasised the government’s initiatives for women. According to the Finance Minister, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihood Mission has achieved remarkable success by mobilising rural women into 81 lakh self-help groups.

“We will enable these groups to reach the next stage of economic empowerment through formation of large producer enterprises or collectives, with each having several thousand members, managed professionally. They will be helped with supply of raw materials, and with better design, quality, branding and marketing of their products. Through other supporting policies, they will be enabled to scale-up their operations and to serve large consumer markets, as in the case of start-ups that grow into unicorns,” she said.

The PM too underlined the government’s efforts to enhance the lives of women. “The government has taken several steps to make the lives of women in rural and urban areas easy. Women’s self-help groups will further enhance them. Special savings scheme will be started, empowering women in households,” Modi said.

Another announcement that has a key support base in mind is the PM VIKAS (Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman) Yojana, which is expected to give a boost to people engaged in various traditional, skilled professions. Noting that PM VIKAS will bring a huge change in the lives of ‘Vishwakarmas’, the PM said schemes to support them have been incorporated in the Budget for the first time.

“Those toiling traditionally with their hands for the country are ‘Vishwakarmas’. They are the creators of this country. For the first time, a scheme related to training and support for ‘Vishwakarmas’ has been introduced. Preparations have been made for their training, technology, credit and market support. PM VIKAS will bring about a huge change in the lives of crores of Vishwakarmas,” the PM said.

According to BJP MP and former Union minister Jayant Sinha, the Budget has laid down concrete policies to address issues of unemployment, inflation and slowdown in economic growth. “As far as unemployment is concerned, this Budget will encourage the creation of jobs. We are making huge investments, between Rs 7.5 lakh crore and Rs 10 lakh crore. We are also encouraging the cooperative sector and MSMEs,” Sinha said.

“This is clearly a budget that is building a future-ready India, ready to compete among the biggest economies of the world, with initiatives like the outlay of Rs 13.5 lakh crore on infrastructure, increased outlay in social security like the PM Awas Yojana, and a slew of initiatives for young Indians, which range from new skilling programmes, 160 nursing colleges, 30 Skill India international centres for opportunities abroad, and, to increase trust, accelerating the digitalisation of government, including digitising the courts system with a Rs 7000 crore outlay,” Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.