A recurring feature in FM Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget Speech—the longest in Parliamentary history—were attempts to draw parallels between historical literature and the politics of the current regime
“Bhoomi Thiruthi Un,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stressed early in her Budget speech, invoking Tamil saint poet Avvaiyar, which translates to, ‘Tend to your land, do not be excessive and then reap your harvest’.
“That’s exactly what our Prime Minister is trying to achieve, so that the farm lands are tended to properly without excessive manure—and with limited water—to grow grains,” she said. Avvaiyar was one of the many literary references Sitharaman made, in an attempt to draw parallels with the policies and politics of the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime.
In what was the longest Budget speech in Parliamentary history, stretching to almost three hours, the Finance Minister recited a variety of verses: A Kashmiri poem by Dina Nath Kaul Nadim; a line from Tamil saint poet Avvaiyar’s Aathichudi; one kural of Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural; and a Sanskrit verse from Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha.
In her maiden Budget speech in 2019 too, the minister—who is an alumnus of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)—had quoted Vivekananda, Chanakya, Pisirandaiyaar and Basaveshwara.
While her attempts to break the monotony of the Budget presentation with literature garnered appreciation last year, this time around, some of Sitharaman’s verses riled up members of the Opposition.
For example, she translated Dina Nath Kaul Nadim’s Kashmiri verses into Hindi, saying, “Hamara watan khilte huye Shalimar Bagh jaise, hamara watan Dal lake mein khilte huye kamal jaisa, nau jawaanon ke garam khoon jaisa... Mera watan, tera watan, hamara watan, duniya ka sabse pyaara watan.” [Roughly translated: Our country is like the blooming Shalimar Bagh, our country is like a lotus blooming in the Dal lake, like the warm blood of youngsters…. My country, your country, our country, is the dearest country in the entire world].