New Delhi: As the Union Budget approaches, the expectations couldn’t be higher for India’s middle class. The Reserve Bank of India projects GDP growth to rebound to 6.2 per cent for the October-December quarter, up from 5.4 per cent, signalling a steady recovery. At the same time, retail inflation has eased to a four-month low of 5.22 per cent in December. But with food prices still posing a challenge, will this year’s budget finally deliver meaningful support to the backbone of the nation, or will the middle class continue to wait for their fair share?

This coming Saturday, as the Union Budget is announced, the nation will tune in, with every commentator suddenly rediscovering India’s middle class, as if it were an archaeological find unearthed after centuries. Expect the usual fanfare: glowing portraits of its grit and resilience, airbrushed anecdotes of triumph over adversity, and perhaps even a musical score to remind us that the middle class is, indeed, the best thing to happen to India, since chai met samosa.

But beyond the glamour and obligatory stock images of nuclear families holding smartphones, lies an uncomfortable truth—India’s middle class is tired, squeezed, and increasingly asking: “What has the nation done for us lately?”

For years, the middle class has been the engine room of India’s economic Das Kapital, quietly shouldering the burdens of growth while receiving little in return. Inflation has become their uninvited roommate, pinching their pockets with every grocery run. Essential commodities cost more, but salaries seem immune to this inflationary enthusiasm.

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