New Delhi, Jan. 31 -- On 1 February, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present what will be only her second Union budget. Given the headwinds facing the Indian economy and the expectations roused by the publicized photo-op sessions capturing the pre-budget discussions hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is already being billed as the most defining budget of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Indeed, the big question is whether this budget has the scope to be a big-bang exercise. It is easy for armchair analysts, many of whom seem to be dexterous to hold forth on virtually any topic, leave alone the Union budget, to lecture Sitharaman and an entirely another thing to actually be the person vested with the responsibility o...