Modi govt's 'vision thing' proves to be a challenge for his aides

New Delhi

ATTEMPTING to be both pro-business and pro-poor, the Modi adminis-tration's communication struggles are starting to disturb both groups in India.

The most costly misstep occurred in April, when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley overstated the amount of tax demands on foreign funds to make a point about helping the poor. The comments triggered a stock sell-off, wiping about US$10 billion off investor wealth over the next four days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since trumpeted policies for the poor to counter opposition claims that he's running a "suit-boot government", an attack depicting the Cabinet as executive-friendly that's gaining traction among farmers.

Mr Modi has offered to make a land bill more farmer-friendly and slowed down a push to overhaul labou…