Interim Budget 2024: Modi Government Focuses on Developed India by 2047

NEW DELHI: With the Lok Sabha elections just around the corner and the Narendra Modi-led government confident of scoring a hat-trick, the incumbent government’s interim Budget tabled by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday had no populist measure but the government’s reiteration of its “highest priority” on “four major castes” — the poor, women, youth and farmers. The minister listed various measures and schemes by the government aimed at benefiting women, youth, farmers and the poor, the four sections considered a major vote bank of Mr Modi since 2014 and also on top of the priority list of the ruling BJP's election strategies.Lauding the interim Budget, the Prime Minister dubbed it the "guarantee" of strengthening the foundation of a developed India, which carries the "confidence of continuity”.To counter the Opposition's "Jitni aabadi utna haq" plank, aimed at wooing the numerically strong OBC vote bank, Mr Modi had termed farmers, women, youth and the underprivileged as the only four castes on his government’s priority list. The BJP reaped its benefits in the recently concluded Assembly polls.Instead of announcing any major promises, like the BJP-led NDA government did in 2019’s interim Budget and announced the PM-KISAN scheme, this interim Budget was on the expected lines. The government claimed that the interim Budget carries its emphasis on the Indian economy’s “profound positive transformation in the last 10 years” and the faith that the “people of India are looking ahead to the future with hope and optimism.”Confident of retaining power, Ms Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, said, “.in the full Budget in July, our government will present a detailed roadmap for the pursuit of Viksit Bharat.” The Union finance minister's assertion drew loud cheers from the treasury benches.Listing the achievements of the Modi government’s tenure since 2014, including the Ram Mandir, Ms Sitharaman asserted that the next five years will be “years of unprecedented development and golden moments to realise the dream of a developed India by 2047”.The Union finance minister asserted that the next five years will be “years of unprecedented development and golden moments to realise the dream of a developed India by 2047”.BJP president J.P. Nadda maintained that the interim Budget offers the vision of "Ram rajya" and underscores the pledge for a self-reliant country.Union home minister Amit Shah said the interim Budget 2024-25 draws the roadmap to achieve Mr Modi's vision of a developed Bharat by 2047.