Like Prabhu, will Arun Jaitley's budget be a non-adventurous one too?

If Suresh Prabhu's Railway Budget is any indicator, then the much-awaited General Budget to be presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the last day of February 2015 is also likely to be a cautious one.

Reason?

Delhi debacle might make the BJP rethink

The debacle in Delhi after a series of state poll victories, the upcoming high-profile state elections in the next one-and-half years in which the BJP has a lot at stake and issues like Land Acquisition Bill which has created a sense of uneasiness in the ruling party.

Modi govt's massive test ahead of crucial polls

The Budget will be a massive test for the Modi government which has scored a lot of points in the foreign policy domain in the last nine months but not much in the domestic sector.

Yes, there have been initiatives like Jan Dhan Yojana, Beti Bachao, Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and Make In India but the NDA government is yet to script a uniform story of economic turnaround so far.

The Budget Moment is what everybody is waiting for. Can the Modi government deliver as per the expectations?

By stressing quality over quantity, Suresh Prabhu did a smart job

Prabhu had done his job very smartly on Thursday when he did not announce a single new train or project and stressed on improving the ground reality first.

For Jaitley too, the trick perhaps lies there. A dramatic reform is what various quarters are expecting from him on Saturday, given the BJP's majority in the Parliament and the series of state polls.

But will that happen?

India in a "sweet spot"...

Jaitley's advantage is that India has now, what The Economic Survey report said, reached a "sweet spot" and that could allow way for Big Bang reforms.

The country can stress economic growth without actually borrowing more, the report said and that its economy is set to grow by over 8 per cent (from 7.4% in the current fiscal).

But there are concerns too...

But other indicators are not too rosy. The country's top 100 firms have seen a shrink in the last quarter while the picture is not very impressive in matters of private investment and consumer demand.

India now needs jobs, better productivity and competitiveness to improve exports and growth. Modi came to power last year by promising better days of more jobs and growth and the stage looked set for Jaitley to deliver.

Will Jaitley be checked by AAP's populist measures?

But the serious debacle in Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party government's promises of cheap power and water might put the Union finance minister under a challenge.

For the politics of this country is changing fast. Can Modi-Jaitley duo ignore that?