SHORTEST SPEECH

FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman spoke for one hour and 30 minutes and delivered the shortest budget speech in decades. Usually, these go on for about two hours at the least. Prime Minister Narendra Modi supported her proposals enthusiastically, whereas Congress MP Manish Tewari termed the Budget “unrealistic and unimplementable”. CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury asked why the super-rich weren’t being taxed more while TMC leader Derek O’Brien said it was a “PM (Does Not) Care Budget”. Bidyut K. Chatterjee

Faridabad