Union Budget 2022: Will Budget Paint Rosy Picture For Voters?

Budget 2022: It is expected that there may be 'special' announcements for 5 states. The people of the poll-bound states hope that there will be something special for them in the budget.

Budget 2022 | Representative Image

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New Delhi: As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present her fourth budget for 2022-23 on 1st February, it is expected that there may special announcements for the five states witnessing assembly elections from February 10. The voters of poll-bound states are expecting something special for them in this upcoming budget. By offering lucrative schemes to the voters, it is an opportunity for the leaders to strengthen their and party's image.

Now the question arises that what will be the schemes and how many benefits people will get from these lucrative promises.

In this report, the assessment has been done for 42 assembly elections in 14 states, which have taken place in the last one-and-a-half decades. These 14 states are Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Puducherry, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Odisha, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Punjab.

The names of the states that are mentioned above went through the elections often just or before the polls. If we look at the data of history, then the balance seems to be inclined towards loss. After the budget, 42 elections were held, out of which 18 did not form the government of the party which was already in power.

In 13 elections, the ruling party emerged victoriously and there were 11 such elections, where the budget did not appear to have any effect on the results of the elections. In the 18 elections in which the ruling party suffered losses, 15 times the Congress and thrice the BJP had to face public anger.

Out of the 13 elections, the BJP won 9 times and Congress won 4 times. There were 11 occasions when the budget did not have any impact on the elections. Congress was in power 4 times and the BJP 7 times.

Gain Or Loss... Know The Math

In the states where assembly elections were held after the general budget, how many more or fewer seats the ruling party got in comparison to the previous assembly elections, was the basis of advantages and disadvantages. For example:

• In 2006, the assembly elections were held in Tamil Nadu after the budget. The Manmohan Singh government was ruling at the Centre. The Congress won 34 seats, while in 2001, it won only 7 seats. That is, Congress benefited after the budget.
• The budget is presented every year on 1 February. In the year 2017, elections were held in Punjab on 11 February. The Narendra Modi government got only 3 seats at the center. Whereas in 2012 it won 12 seats. BJP had to bear the loss.
• There were elections held in Assam in April of 2021. The budget was presented in February. The BJP-led NDA government won 60 seats. In 2017, the BJP got the same number of seats. The budget had no impact on the election results.