#Demonetisation and budgets: all in the mind



It’s 690 seats this year; another 964 seats are up for grabs next year, with the general election to follow in 2019. This inescapable political imperative will weigh on finance minister Arun Jaitley’s mind when he drafts India’s economic policy. The battle for occupying popular mindspace over the past two months is now telescoping into a two-year battle. And if the vast majority of Indians feel confounded after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surgical excision of 86% of currency, they shouldn’t despair: They are in the distinguished company of Jaitley who, presumably, is equally disconcerted.