– Mira Kamdar, the author of Planet India: The Turbulent Rise of the Largest Democracy, is currently a fellow at the Asia Society.
By Mira Kamdar
NEW DEHLI — India’s new budget for 2008-2009 says less about the country’s current financial health than it does about the irresistible tendency of Indian governments to use the national budget as a pre-election cudgel. Every year, India struggles to reconcile the irreconcilable: stimulate economic growth and investment, alleviate endemic poverty, and feed a ravenous military appetite. The government must be seen to care about “aam aadmi,” the common man (who votes), while satisfying the needs of businessmen (who keep the economy humming).
