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NEW DELHI: The central secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has strongly criticized the budget presented by Arun Jaitley today by terming it as anti-people and pro-corporate. Further, the budget gives no concessions to the farmers who are burdened with huge loans and are committing suicide.

It’s a must-win situation for Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister and his party know that even an indeterminate outcome producing a hung assembly can raise doubts about their chances in 2019. Since Modi does not want to be a one-time prime minister, he has to come out unambiguously on top in UP. For him and the BJP, the stakes have never been higher.

The penultimate Budget of the NDA government, presented to Parliament, is replete with surprises as the feisty Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley was able to restrict his additional resources mobilizations (ARMs) efforts through tax proposals to Rs 20,000 crore in a two trillion dollar economy.

The 2017-18 budget is a desperate gamble of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hoodwink the common masses by sidelining the adverse impact of the demonetisation on the rural economy, especially the informal sector by highlighting the so called new programmes in agriculture. The effects of demonetisation will not spill over the next year-that is the brunt of the message in the Economic Survey and the Budget but what will happen to the loss of jobs during the current financial year due to demonetisation that has disrupted the rural economy? There is no answer and there is no concerted move to create additional jobs in the economy while the Government is talking of a cashless one.

In the post-demonetisation phase with domestic economy crawling at a dispiriting pace tepid pace presaging a fraught short-term future, the pre-budget Economic Survey makes bold to claim that India’s sweet spot economy is enduring not evanescent. It foresees real GDP growth for the next fiscal 2017-18 to be in the 6.75-7.50 per cent.

At no time did UP witness so many stake-holders fighting for their prestige as in the 2017 Assembly polls. Stakes are indeed very high for them and their parties. It is a fight for survival for the two regional parties SP and the BSP, last ditch battle to remain relevant for the congress and a test on the BJP’s central leadership of Modi and Amit Shah. It could be the end of the road for the SP patriarch Mulayam Singh, fading away for the supremo chief Mayawati and RLD chief Ajit Singh, if they fail.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ruling BJP leaders, the Prime Minister downwards, trumpet the delights of ‘cooperative federalism’ at regular intervals. But the dichotomy between their public pronouncements and practice is as dangerous as it is frightening.

The government may disagree, train journey in India is becoming increasingly unsafe and unreliable in terms of keeping its time schedule and service quality. Since the BJP-led NDA government came to power in May 2014, Indian Railways recorded the largest number of major train accidents — 27 in 31 months — making it almost a monthly feature. Since Last November, three major accidents in three months killed some 200 passengers and injured over 350 train travellers. Actually, train journey during last year proved to be more dangerous for passengers than that in 2015. The worst came less than three months ago. The Indore- Rajendra Nagar (Patna) Express derailment, killing some 150 passengers and seriously injuring over 270, was the biggest railway accident in the world, last year, with 14 of its coaches got derailed about 60 kilometres from Kanpur, on November 20, last year. However, within weeks, 15 coaches of the Ajmer-Sealdah Express were derailed while crossing a bridge. The new year too seemed to portend evil for train journey as on January 21, Hirakud Express derailed near Vizianagaram, killing over 40 passengers, injuring some 70 and making the train journey a nightmare for over 600 other people on board.

India is perhaps the only large economy in the world which is growing at a 6.5 plus per cent, and yet this growth rate is not supported by some fundamental micro and macro-economic indicators. The million-dollar question these days is can India sustain its rapid economic growth. Importantly, in this phase of de-globalization, and disruption post-demonetisation, it will be a miracle if India can achieve a 7 per cent growth. President Trump has already signed an executive order to pull USA out of Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.

What a high-pitched drama was enacted in Lucknow! One day it appeared that the Congress-SP alliance has been reached. The second day what looked a certainty took an unexpected turn and talks of an alliance broke down. Those who wrote their columns on the assumption that the talk of alliance between the two parties is finally dead woke up to find next morning in newspapers that the poll pact between Congress and SP has been reached. Strange are the ways of politics.