Budget 2023 (India)

Submission 587

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About

Budget 2023 refers to the memes and discussions about the Indian government's proposed budget for the year 2023, as announced on February 1st, 2023 by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharam. Discussions about the budget began to trend on Twitter on January 31st, with the words "income tax," and "middle class" often being invoked. Aspects of the budget most discussed in meme communities include the removal of tax for incomes up to 7 lakh rupees per annum (approx. $8,500) and a hike in cigarette taxes.

Origin

On January 26th in the previous week, the Ministry of Finance's official Twitter^[1] account posted a series of photos from the pre-budget "halwa" ceremony, gathering over 1,000 likes in nearly a week (seen below, left). Also on January 26th, Twitter^[2] user @ManvenderVLav posted a photo from the ceremony that later featured in various memes,^[3] with the tweet gathering over 300 likes in nearly a week (seen below, right).

On January 30th, various Indian users began making memes in anticipation of the budget announcements. The Instagram^[4] page @rvcjmedia posted a meme about commerce students being excited to use their knowledge for something. The post gathered over 100,000 likes in three days (seen below, left). On January 31st, Twitter^[5] user @Stockstudy8 posted a meme about how every Indian becomes an economist when the budget is released, gathering over 1,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).

Spread

On February 1st, 2023, the Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharam presented the 2023 Union Budget of India. The announcement discussed the new tax regimes, with a notable change being that individuals with income up to 7 lakhs rupees per annum were exempt from income tax.

On February 1st, 2023, Twitter^[6] user @Imvivek04 posted a meme featuring a still from the film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., where lead Sanjay Dutt can be seen saying, "You understand it and teach me later." The tweet gathered over 1,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Also on February 1st, Twitter^[7] user @GabbbarSingh posted a meme that implied that farmers benefit from the most tax breaks in the 2023 Union Budget, gathering over 3,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

On February 1st, the Instagram^[8] page @mememandir posted a meme with a fake Rap TV headline that read, "Government set to reduce Income Tax to 0%," with the consecutive slide being a troll video featuring Lord Puneet. The post gathered over 9,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). On February 1st, Instagram^[9] page @bharatiyawebseries posted a "Dekh Raha Hai Vinod"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dekh-raha-hai-vinod-dekh-raha-hai-binod meme that read, "Are you watching Vinod? How people are fretting about the Budget with only 500 rupees in their bank account." The post gathered over 7,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

Also on February first, an old video from the announcement of 2019's budget began to resurface, showing a man commenting on the event in an incoherent and funny manner. Instagram^[10] page @Indianoninternettt posted a version of the video on February 1st, gathering over 4,000 likes in a day (seen below).