Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was at his 'inclusive' best on Budget Day. From farmers to dalit entrepreneurs, he sought to lay the platform for a political reach out by the government across social groups. He pumped funds into key UPA schemes, reinforced commitment on Aadhar, made all the right noises on social sector schemes, signaling that the government was willing to listen to everyone across the political spectrum. He even mentioned Rahul Gandhi, though cursorily, yet enough to be politically noticed. Still, and perhaps a rare instance by itself, Jaitley's political pitch appeared at odds with everything else around him. Quite amazingly, even before he rose to the present the Budget, there was needless shouting that only served as a reminder of the acrimonious backdrop to this parliamentary session. Jaitley himself averred to political obstructionism as one of the headwinds against which he has had to function. True. It's been a politically charged atmosphere, high-pitched enough to affect the economic environment despite a stable full majority government at the Centre. If the Opposition has found some momentum after BJP's electoral reversals in key states like Bihar, the BJP has not stepped back either. Much in the same form as before the 2014 elections, the party has been combative, sometimes even proactively combative. That too hasn't helped the Modi government, especially its Finance Minister. So the question after the Budget speech is whether the Jaitely line will also become the party line? That's the contradiction which disturbs the FM's budget effort. This is not to suggest that the FM was in any way politically conciliatory but the grammar was qualitatively different, one which can easily drown in the noise and bluster of hard hitting, headline making divisive remarks. As the Budget itself bears it out, there are only that many choices