Shashi Tharoor has a rival in Punjab

Punjab's Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal presenting the annual budget 2018-19 in the State Assembly in Chandigarh on Saturday | PTI Photo

‘This great region has written its own history and written it in red, with the blood of its martyred sons…embedded in its fertile fields.’

Chandigarh: There was the expected assortment of numbers and promises, of course, but Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s budget speech Saturday was much more than just that.

There was the throwback to Punjab’s glory days, and a tip of the hat to the state’s tradition of courage. There was also hope, that the “shadow on the land of five rivers” was temporary, and the resolve to come out stronger. All delivered with the kind of eloquent poetic flourishes that have won Shashi Tharoor a legion of fans who swear by his oratory.

Sample this: Starting his speech with a eulogy to Punjab, he said, “This great region has written its own history and written it in red, with the blood of its martyred sons that is embedded in its fertile fields. From one end of the world to the other, it has drained deep the chalice of courage…”

It’s not an easy time for Punjab. In the throes of a financial crisis, the state is also grappling with widespread drug addiction, which has held an entire generation hostage.

But Badal expressed hope. “The shadow cast upon the Land of the Five Rivers is momentary. I assure you that we can be beaten by none save our own selves,” he said.

“I have always said, and I repeat, that the words Punjabi and pessimism; Punjabi and defeatism; cannot be spoken in the same breath.

“It was none but our forefathers who turned away the armies of Alexander the Great; trampled the mountains beyond the Khyber, humbled the British Empire challenged the tempest and made them alter their course, laughed at the bolts of lightning,” he said.

“These qualities of courage, sacrifice and dedication to India are the historic qualities which Punjab has always produced in its sons and daughters which come with the grace of God.

“This is not a commodity that can be bought from the marketplace. This can be bought from the marketplace of the heart provided you can pay for it in blood and good deeds,” he added.

Concluding his speech, Badal said, “No greatness of achievement is impossible for good men determined; fortune is an unfailing ally of the brave…”

“Let it not be said of this (sic) Punjabi generations that we lacked courage and integrity. Let it not be said of this Punjabi generation that we left determination and purpose to our adversaries,” he added. “We have come too far, we have sacrificed too much, to disdain the future now.”

“The boundless talent and energy of the people of Punjab is a flame which can be hidden but never extinguished,” he said, adding, “It is the duty of our government to reveal this phenomenal flame to the rest of the world once again.”

Urging the need for prudence in the face of “quick-fix”, but ultimately self-defeating, solutions, he said, “I, as one who reflects anxiously and every day on Punjab’s future, warn the house that let none of us be deflected for one instant from the clear path of prudence by empty and false promptings howsoever alluring.”

“Let us build surely and gain strength and security before we listen lightly to the voice of any temptress – for then alone shall we be able to pursue the many ideals which lie close to our heart,” he added.