Dainik Bhaskar didn't take too well to the Budget. The kicker on the day's lead read "The Great Confusion Show," and the story itself was headlined, "Should one laugh or cry?" It drew attention to the hike in the defence budget and the proposal to award scholarships to 1 lakh students with a relatively small outlay. The news was accompanied by an illustration of PC drawing a sword against the common man. The paper criticised the finance minister for reducing the duty on dog food from 30 to 20 per cent, even as he ignored critical concerns on inflation and industry.
Rajasthan Patrika took a big illustration of a cricketing field across its front page with Chidambaram in the bowler's position; the headline read: "Everyone bowled by PC's googly!" The paper devoted almost its entire front page to the Budget, giving mention to the sharp fall in stock market indices on February 28. Punjab Kesari said the Budget defied definition, calling for neither a wow nor a thumbs-down. The report was accompanied by a graphic in which ten-odd indicators flew off in different directions, the finance minister smilingly nestled between them. The paper, however, praised the FM for addressing certain agricultural concerns.
Other than the Budget, the week gone by saw coverage of the Rail Budget and the Economic Survey in the Hindi press, as also stories on who would take over the mantle in Punjab and Uttaranchal after the Congress's debacle in these two states.
The Railway Budget, Economic Survey and the Union Budget received front page coverage in all the leading Kannada dailies. The Railway Budget and the Union Budget consumed five-six pages in all the newspapers with several analyses and focused stories being the highlight. While newspapers hailed the Railway Budget as "people-friendly" in general, they were critical of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for "neglecting" Karnataka's interests.
Kannada Prabha of the New Indian Express Group termed the Union Budget as "people-friendly". "However," it said, "the Budget was disappointing since there were no provisions for the overall development of the nation, including infrastructure. There were several benefits for the socially oppressed classes and women in particular, but the overall socio-economic scenario was dismal."
Agitations against the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final award continued to receive attention in the Kannada press.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu press played up the Railway Budget, Economic Survey and the Union Budget as lead stories on their front pages. On Thursday, the dailies dedicated their front pages solely to the Union Budget, and two inside pages besides their business pages for the Budget text, industry reactions and stock market crash. While Vaartha endorsed the Budget with the headline 'Away from Controversies', Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi contended that it disappointed everyone.
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