Union minister of state for finance, Anurag Thakur, offered a prayer hours before his boss Nirmala Sitharaman’s presentation of the Union Budget in Parliament.
News agency Asian News International tweeted photographs of Anurag Thakur praying before an idol of Hanuman at his home.
“The Modi government believes in ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’. We received suggestions from across the country. The government has made efforts to ensure that this budget will be good for all, good for the people and the country,” Thakur, dressed a rust jacket and white kurta, said while speaking to ANI.
All eyes are on Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is expected to increase spending on infrastructure and cut taxes to revive a sagging economy and boost consumer demand.
Nirmala Sitharaman will be aiming to get growth back up with the economy staring at the worst pace of expansion recorded in a decade with her second budget as the second woman finance minister after Indira Gandhi.
Sitharaman had presented her first budget in July last year, shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government came to power in the Centre in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
The Union Budget is the financial statement of the government, detailing its revenue and expenditure in the past, as well as estimated spending and projections for the coming year.
