Dehradun, Feb. 3 -- Despite the fact that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had stated more than once that it would be a vote-on-account, as general elections are due, there was speculation that there could be some big giveaways to lure the voters. The FM not only abided by what she said, but also presented something even more impressive - a comprehensive picture of the economic path taken thus far and its extension into the future. It shows how the project to make India a developed country by 2047 is the cumulative product of an entire government activated by extraordinary leadership.
Commentators immediately accepted that this was the result of a confidence in what has been achieved over the last ten years. The facts and figures cannot...