India, Jan. 26 -- The Union Budget for 2026-27 is being formatted even as we write, and will be presented on February 1 in the Lok Sabha. The Budget Session of Parliament will commence from January 28 and will continue till April 2.

The budget is prepared based on recommendations and demands from various ministries, including the secret demands of the Defence and Home ministries. Added to these are the government's own political priorities, the needs of the ever-hungry Prime Minister's Office, and the projects and schemes of the state governments in which the Centre has a stake.

But since the eclipse of the earlier united democratic government, with Mrs Sonia Gandhi as the Chair of the coalition and Mr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, ...