Why figures went missing from FM's budget speeches

Sitharaman has shed the formal tone of her predecessors to take a more futuristic approach

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's past three budget speeches were marked by an absence of key figures that had in the past aided in articulating the government's priorities and, sometimes, to justify a long-term goal that posed short-term difficulties.

Tagore, Kalidas, Shakespeare and other poets who lent a helping hand in the past to the finance ministers of the day, have not made it to budget speeches since 2022.

But at the same time, Sitharaman's speeches have shed the formal tone of some of her predecessors to embrace a more futuristic approach, signalling the medium- and long-term development vision of the NDA government, while echoing the aspirations of people—not just at the macro level, but identifying with the last man in the queue.