Bommai's last Budget has BJP poll prospect riding on it

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai who will be presenting the state budget on February 17 is saddled with the expectation of setting a strong poll narrative for his party through his budget speech, while not losing sight of the state's economic needs.

Although the budget presented now is likely to be replaced by a new government post the Assembly elections, BJP leaders are banking on this budget to flex their muscle and counter the on-ground campaigns of both Congress and the JD(S).

The Congress and JD(S) have already hit the ground with poll promises. "The Congress for instance, has already promised Rs 2000 for every housewife if the party comes to power. Our party should be able to counter it with adequate announcements of welfare schemes and infrastructure projects," a senior BJP leader told DH. For example, community-specific welfare have a lot of demand and the government must allocate adequate resources for it, the leader added.

While the visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will boost the party's prospects, the party cannot bank on their popularity alone. Through this budget, it needs to show the public that it is able to offer stable governance, party sources said.

An electoral budget is always a challenge as the Chief Minister has to manage election expectations, while not losing sight of the economic requirements of the state. Basic issues of Karnataka's economy need to be met, pointed out Narendra Pani, Dean, Social Sciences, NIAS.

On his part, Bommai had recently stated that his budget would be "pro-people." With the government seeing good tax collection, it is likely to boast of the same in the budget, said Madhusudhan Rao, senior research advisor, the Centre for Budgetary and Policy Studies.

The state has also kept the borrowings under check while increasing revenue expenditure. This will help in reducing the fiscal deficit. It can be used either to boost expenditure in the current year and also to project for the next year that they are fiscally prudent while taking up developmental works, Rao said.

The budget presented on Friday will be the last budget under the fifteenth Assembly of the state.