Balanced act

Sir — This refers to the editorial, “The feel-great Budget” (February 2). The Union Budget for 2017-18 is in line with the BJP’s changed political stance of wooing the poor and shedding its ‘suit-boot-ki-sarkar’ image. Close on the heels of the painful  demonetisation move that slowed down the economic juggernaut, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has brilliantly sailed past the usual freebies that would have drawn the Election Commission’s ire. 

He has rolled out a red carpet for the poor, the deprived and the honest tax-payers, while making a sincere effort to broaden the tax base. Vote politics has weighed on priorities. Jaitley has presented an incremental, more-of-the-same Budget that does not inflict pain on anyone and is fiscally sound.