Coalition, poll maths to the fore

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for FY25 on Tuesday, seeking to respond to the political message that the June 4 Lok Sabha poll verdict had thrown up, and the challenges that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

She did this by addressing discontent among crucial voting groups, such as the youth and farmers, and accommodating the demands of its key regional allies from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Ever since June 4, when the results of the Lok Sabha polls were announced, and the BJP lost its single-party majority for the first time in ten years, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had projected a sense of continuity in governance in its ministerial and bureaucratic appointments. However, the first Budget of the third successive term of the government laid bare its compulsions, especially its efforts to keep relations with allies, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) from Bihar and Andhra's N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party, at an even keel.