Manmohan wants to do more for the aam admi

NEW DELHI: MS met PC and discussed the broad contours of Budget â€™04 today. And Manmohan wants a â€˜wide awakeâ€™ budget â€” one without â€˜dreamsâ€™ or â€˜nightmaresâ€™. This provides clear evidence that Mr Singh is going to be actively involved in the making of the new budget. According to sources, Mr Singh wants this â€˜wide-awakeâ€™ budget to do justice to the aspirations of the aam admi , a constituency that the Congress and the UPA allies had appealed to during the just concluded elections. However, the sources added that there will not be any populist misadventure and the focus will be to â€œachieve a high and sustainable growthâ€�. â€œNever forget that the BJP and the NDA went to the polls not with a Hindutva, but on a development plank. Yet the people of India voted them out. The budget should be seen to favour the commoner,â€� sources said. The PM is reportedly keen that sectors directly affecting the agrarian economy like agricultural, rural and irrigation should get benefits from the Budget as much as the middle class and business. According to sources, todayâ€™s meeting discussed in detail how best the Budget could reflect the suggestions and demands put forward by the UPA allies at the Friday meeting at 7 RCR. The PMO is keen that the first Budget sends out the right political message â€” something that would help sew the ruling alliance further close. The low political profile of the prime minister has made the PMO less visible in public eye during the past one month. Mr Singh, who could not make a speech in Parliament as the session got virtually drowned over `the tainted ministersâ€™ issue, is yet to address a public meeting. Also, he has not made any trip outside Delhi since he took over. In fact, he had not even made any political statement during the last one month. With the PMO remaining focused on governance and the party president Sonia Gandhi deliberately keeping a low profile in order to avoid any charges of overshadowing the prime minister, there is little activity at the Congress HQ. â€œThe dilemma of the party establishment is understandable as itâ€™s for the first time after a long gap that the posts of the Congress president and prime ministership are being held by two individuals. Now the real task is to find ways to get the right kind of functional rhythm between the party and the government,â€� said a senior Congress leader.

Manmohan wants to do more for the aam admi

MS met PC and discussed the broad contours of Budget '04 today. And Manmohan wants a 'wide awake' budget - one without 'dreams' or 'nightmares'.

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