For a state of Maharashtra reeling under drought, the Congress-NCP combine has come up with a budget flush with sops, four months before elections. Finance Minister Jayant Patil's please-all formula is packed with generous sops for farmers, small traders, backward classes and government employees, adding up to a Rs 7,303-crore deficit for the exchequer. Handing out free textbooks, more subsidy on power and rebates on sales tax, Patil defended the proposals as part of the