Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is poised to equal the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai as she gears up to present her sixth consecutive budget on February 1. Nirmala Sitharaman, the country's first full-time woman finance minister, has already marked her legacy by presenting five full budgets since assuming office in July 2019. With the presentation of interim budget on February 1, Nirmala Sitharaman will surpass the records of her predecessors- Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram and Yashwant Sinha- who presented five budgets in a row.Morarji Desai, as finance minister, presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959-1964. He holds the tag of presenting 10 budgets- the maximum by any finance minister.
After the PM Modi government came to power in 2014, Arun Jaitley took charge of the finance ministry and presented five budgets in a row from 2014-15 to 2018-19.Piyush Goyal presented the interim budget for 2019-20 on February 1, 2019.After the 2019 general elections, Nirmala Sitharaman was given the charge of the finance portfolio, becoming the second woman to have presented budget after Indira Gandhi, who had presented the budget for financial year 1970-71.The interim budget is presented when general elections are due in the country. The new government, which is likely to be formed around June, will come up with a final budget for 2024-25 sometime in July.