Keep all contentious issues—cutting government spending, opening up insurance—out of the Budget.
- Tinker around but make sure that every thing balances out to maintain the status quo.
- Stick close to the CMP.
- Give—or give the impression of giving—every lobby some sops.
- Send out the message that he is pro-reform.
Take the tough or real reform decisions outside the Budget process so they are not voted on in Parliament.
- Make sure that the Left is represented on the committees to study government spending and subsidies. Faced with facts, the Left may be forced to toe Chidambaram's line.
- Open up insurance gently.
- Put pressure on PSUs to get more efficient or face disinvestment.
