With Budget 2019, the signal that FM Sitharaman sends is that rich Indians deserve to be penalised | The Indian Express

With Budget 2019, the signal that FM Sitharaman sends is that rich Indians deserve to be penalised | The Indian Express

Written by Tavleen Singh |Updated: July 28, 2019 8:29:37 am

Tavleen Singh, a leading Columnist associated with The Indian Express. Find all Columns from Tavleen Singh here.

With Budget 2019, the signal that FM Sitharaman sends is that rich Indians deserve to be penalised

When the Finance Minister says proudly that high taxes will affect less than 5,000 rich Indians, the signal she sends is that rich Indians deserve to be penalised.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (AP Photo)

As someone who has vivid memories of our bleak socialist decades, alarm bells start going off in my head when I see the smallest signs of socialism. They have been going off loudly since the Budget because a pall of despair has descended over Mumbai. It is as if businessmen, big and small, have given up all hope of India ever becoming a country in which they will be able to do business without some regulator, inspector or corrupt official breathing down their necks