In what could be the longest Budget speech ever delivered in independent India's history, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clocked a total time of two hours 15 minutes, going past the the record held by former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and his speech in 2003. Singh's speech was two hours and 13 minutes long, according to Indpaedia.com, a volunteer-based archival portal.
Peppered generously with couplets, sayings, anecdotes invoking everyone from Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Chanakya to even lord Basaveshwara and his principles of 'Kayaka' (roughly means every individual should take up a job of choice and not be a burden on society) and 'Dasoha' (every individual should contribute the rest of his labour, over his minimum requirement, to society), Sitharaman's speech stood out in terms of its tone as compared to other Budget speeches. From Urdu couplets, a leaf out of Tamil Sangam literature which talks about elephants raiding fields and somehow linking it to taxation, Sitharaman's speech had it all.
Some interesting statements made by Sitharaman -
'Majboot desh ke liye majboot nagrik' - While talking about the NDA's performance and the mandate it received in the recently concluded elections.
'Yaqeen ho to koi raasta nikalta hai hawa ki oat bhee le kar chirag jalta hai.' - While talking about the government and its efforts to achieve the 5 trillion dollar economy goal.
'Gaon, gareeb, kisan at the centre - kendrabindu har ek karyakram mein' - While talking about the government's priorities.
'Kayakave Kailasha' (work itself is worship) - While talking about the Stand Up India scheme.
'Annadatta kyu urja datta nahi ban sakte?' - While talking about giving a boost to agriculture and renewable energy in the same bracket.
'Naari tu narayani' - While talking about women.
'The soul of India lives in its villages' - While talking about Grameen Bharat.
'There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of woman is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing.' - Again, in the context of women empowerment.