Budget before general polls due between April and May this year: Pon Radhakrishnan

Chennai: Tamil Nadu's expectations are high on the BJP-led government at the Centre, which will present the interim Budget for the fiscal year 2019-20 on Feb.1. This will be the last budget before the Lok Sabha poll due between April and May this year.

Tamil Nadu hopes to see more announcements for railways and numerous projects including the port development project under the BJP government's ambitious Sagarmala programme, which had not taken off in the State on expected lines.

"The Union Budget will be a wholesome one and it will address the concerns of diverse sections in the country... it will be a full one," Union minister of state for finance and shipping Pon Radhakrishnan has asserted on Wednesday.

Sources in the BJP indicate that several key announcements would figure in the budget, as the BJP is keen on helping the lotus to bloom in Tamil Nadu, this time atleast, especially in the absence of the vacuum created by the absence of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and post DMK stalwart M. Karunanidhi. "Though several centrally sponsored schemes like the Mudra loan, housing scheme, health insurance scheme and soil card for farmers, would come in handy for us during our election campaign, there would be substantial announcements to connect with the State," a source in the party said.

"Our party would soon unveil plans for alliance in the State and chalk out a strategy to win good number of Lok Sabha seats this time," BJP senior M. Chakravarthy said.

On September 21, 2016, the Modi government had ended the 92-year-old practice of presenting Railway and Union Budget separately and approved the merger of both the Budgets. Till 2016, the Railway Budget was presented a few days before the Union Budget. On Jan.21, both the Minister of State for Finance - Shiv Partap Shukla and Pon Radhakrishnan jointly observed the 'Halwa Ceremony' to mark the beginning of printing of documents, officially relation to 2019 interim budget.