Union Budget 2012: 'The govt has to give up its love for power'

“Those who crib about TV analysts, cameras & FM interviews over the Budget should switch off their TVs and wait for the papers tomorrow,” says @smitaprakash.

@smitaprakash or better, they could just watch LokSabha tv and be happy:),” says @vikramgee. That’s a thought – pure feed of the lecture without the expertise of TV anchors and editors.

If you don’t want to watch the Budget, there’s an option: Anna Hazare, live from the India Today Conclave. Hat tip to Ajit Ranade who tweeted, “Head-to-head on television: Anna Hazare at 10am, Finance Minister at 11am #Budget2012 #ITConclave.”

What does the rest of the world think will happen?

_ WSJ _spoofs the FM’s speech. ““The UPA Government has significantly scaled up the flow of resources to rural areas Kolkata to give a more inclusive thrust to INSERT your personal END INSERT development process. The impact is visible in the new dynamism of our rural economy your national political influence. Yet, there is much that still needs to be done to meet kill off the ‘growing aspiration’ of a young India Dinesh Trivedi,” spoofs Wall Street Journal.

Enough of the joking and back to the serious aspect of today. “The Budget will aim to shrink the fiscal deficit and bring India back onto a path of fiscal consolidation.,” says the Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Mukherjee is expected to raise excise duty on vehicles by one to two percentage points. Higher taxes could hurt demand for vehicles in the coming fiscal year,” _ WSJ _adds.

“Analysts said the government had a number of ways of increasing revenues while steering clear of the unpopular move of cutting subsidies. They could cut earlier tax breaks, boost local sales taxes and step up plans to sell state enterprises,” says BBC .

And to round off this round up, here’s a sobering thought.“Reforms aren’t possible unless the government gives up its love to stay in power,” tweets @shubhashish.