Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began her Budget speech by quoting Telugu poet and playwright Gurajada Apparao. "Desamante matti kaadoyi, desamante manushuloyi (Country is not just the mud and soil, Country means people)," Sitharaman said. She chose the quote from his classic Telugu poem, ‘Desamunu Preminchumanna’. Apparao was a writer, social reformist and feminist.