View: Expect a fairly cautious budget on Feb. 1, but don’t rule out a dose of populism

The budget might at best pander to the middle class by some cosmetic tinkering with income-tax slabs. An expansion of the welfare state — better old-age security and higher maternity benefits, for instance — is equally unlikely, even though it will help Modi counter Gandhi’s accusation that his government is working only for a few rich tycoons, such as Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, two of the the world’s wealthiest people.