The Opposition benches who were busy taking potshots at Finance Minister Piyush Goyal during his Budget speech suddenly turned numb when Goyal started building up tempo for tax sops.
The BJP leaders, who were on a back foot so far on Opposition charges on jobs, agrarian crisis and crony capitalism, suddenly started beaming with confidence. The party is sure that solid support of sops can help them turn the table against the Opposition in coming Lok Sabha elections.
BJP MPs to whom DNA spoke outside Parliament after the Budget said the sops will allow them to face electorate confidently.
The announcement of tax sops for middle class led treasury benches thumping, leading to crescendo of Modi... Modi...Modi – a glimpse of how the next two-three months could unfold for the BJP. A puzzled Opposition was seen raking up brains to understand the import of tax sops to middle class and basic income to small farmers, and pension scheme for workers of the unorganised sector, and senior citizens.
Reeling under constant attack over agrarian crisis, the Modi government announced a massive farm income support scheme, KIsan SAmman Nidhi, for marginal farmers at Rs 6,000 per year. The Rs 75,000-crore scheme aims to benefit 12 crore farmers having less than two hectare of landholding. The scheme would transfer Rs 2,000 directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries in the next two months. If implemented effectively, it could help the BJP in upstaging recent losses in Hindi heartland states hit by farmer agitations.
Another major sop is the launch of a social security pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector that accounts for about 90 per cent of 50 crore total workforce.
Under the proposed scheme, Rs 3,000 pension will be provided to workers above 60 years of age. To avail the scheme, the workers will have to contribute Rs 100 per month.
The scheme can change electoral fortunes of BJP among labour class that had to bear the maximum brunt of job loss post demonetisation.
Along with the recently announced 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker section (EWS), these moves could prove to be game changers for the BJP. It, however, will have to compete with Congress President Rahul Gandhi's recent proposal of a minimum income guarantee giving voters a tough choice to choose.
The Modi government's top ace came when Goyal proposed that individuals with income upto Rs 5 lakh will not have to pay any income tax for 2019-20. The government also raised the standard deduction from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 - giving a solid platform to BJP leaders to canvass among reticent salaried class and fight corporate friendly image of the government.
The populist sops give BJP the much-needed fire power to respond to Rahul Gandhi allegations of crony capitalism. The Opposition leaders conceded that they have an uphill task to demystify the Budget to the voters in next two to three months and make them understand the real import of it.
