Finance Minister Chintaman Dwarakanath Deshmukh and Bombay Chief Minister Morarji Ranchhodji Desai had a wildly different day on February 29, 1956. Deshmukh spent his day in Delhi, closeted with officials. A former civil servant and the first Indian to become the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, he became Finance Minister in 1950. As the country’s Finance Minister, Deshmukh piloted five Budgets. On the evening of February 29, 1956, he presented the sixth one before his Lok Sabha colleagues.

In Bombay, Desai had his hands full of well-wishers streaming into his residence to wish him on his 60th birthday. One of the visitors was Deshmukh’s colleague..