Budget 2021: Dear FM Sitharaman, Swing It Like ‘Singh & Singh’

“Here’s what FM Nirmala Sitharaman can learn from former Union Finance Ministers Dr Manmohan Singh & Jaswant Singh.”

Every year, for one day, India’s finance minister hogs more limelight than the incumbent prime minister to become the ‘first among equals’. That solitary day among 365 is Budget Day, now usually on the First of February.

India’s had seven powerful finance ministers in the post-liberalisation era, but only one among them, Dr Manmohan Singh, became prime minister. So, he’s experienced both emotions, putting former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in his shadow, but also withdrawing into the penumbra of politically savvier finance ministers, Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram.

Except for the current finance minister, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, who I am yet to meet in North Block, I’ve had the privilege of several tête-à-têtes with all her predecessors since 1991.