NEW DELHI ¨C For a politician not known to easily make concessions, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s budget on Tuesday was a successful early test of his ability to run a fickle coalition after a shock poll result last month, but it came at a cost.
Modi has been forced to rely on allies to run a government for the first time in his career, having earlier delivered thumping majorities for his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nationally and in his native Gujarat state.
Boosted by a record dividend from the central bank, Modi allocated more than $5 billion for infrastructure and other projects in the home states of two key allies, cheering them but prompting the opposition to call it an attempt to ¡°bribe¡± the coalition and undermine other regions.
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