Full budget on February 1? No income tax up to 5 lakh

The Modi government is toying up with the idea of presenting a full budget in Parliament on February instead of the convention of only an interim budget before the elections.

Access to the Finance Ministry was open until last week since the interim budget for four years of expenditure in the new financial year requires no secrecy, but restrictions have been slapped since Monday to prevent any leak of the budget being readied hurriedly.

There are reports that the income tax exemption may be doubled from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and some other benefits may be ushered in for the tax payers.

Meanwhile, BJP President Amit Shah is understood to have finalised a game plan under Prime Minister Modi's advice to use huge covert funds to promote political parties of Muslims and Dalits to cut through the Opposition's vote bank in the Lok Sabha elections.

A top party source said Shah is coordinating with All India Majlis-e;Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Assaduddin Owaisi to rope in disgruntled Dalit and Muslim leaders into an alliance to contest as many seats as possible, with funds no problem.

He said: "There is an urgent need to make a dent in Muslim and Dalit vote because if it gets consolidated against the BJP, then we are doomed."

The party leaders are quite happy over the government quickly providing 10% reservation to the economically weak sections of society as benefits will accrue to the upper castes, the BJP's traditional voters, who were angry with the party over the government retaining the SC/ST Act in its pristine form.

Other components of the strategy finalised in the 2day national council meeting here last week include projection of the BJP as taint and scam free as PM Modi stressed in his address. To show it as a decisive government, the government has readied a massive advertisement campaign to highlight seven welfare schemes, including Ujjwala, Ayushman Bhara, Saubhagya, Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and Deen Dayal Upadhayay Gram Jyoti Yojna.

The Prime Minister has already set the tone of his attack on the opposition in the national council meeting to slam the unholy alliances that are bereft of any principles and are only being formed to remove him because he is stopping their corruption and lust for power. Majboot Sarkar versus Majboor Sarkar is going to be the main theme of the electoral strategy of the saffron party.

At the same time, party workers, Sangh cadres and middle ranking leaders are being told that if the BJP was defeated in the general elections and Modi does not come back to power, they would have to face the wrath of the next government.

Only a full budget can have the taxation proposals and launch of any schemes involving the financial commitments and hence PM Modi is believed to have given a go-ahead to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to prepare a full budget.