Rajasthan CM reads out last year's budget in State Assembly; apologizes for 'human error'

Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who is also serving as the finance minister of the state, started reading the budget at 11 am in the Assembly on Friday. In what he cites as a human error later, the CM read the old budget instead of the new one.

Jaipur:In a major faux pas, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday read excerpts from last year's budget instead of Budget 2023-24 in the state Assembly. The goof-up drew heavy criticism from the BJP MPs, leading to an uproar in the House and an eventual adjournment of the Assembly for half an hour. The CM later apologised, citing it was human error.

When the house reassembled after the second adjournment, the chief minister said, "I am feeling sorry. An extra page was added by mistake. It was human error." Incorrect figures were presented when Vasundhara Raje was chief minister and that were also rectified, he said. Raje, who was present in the House, hit back, saying what Gehlot had done was sheer carelessness.

Meanwhile, the BJP MPs also claimed that the budget is has technically leaked, as the state government officials rushed to get the budget copy. As per the rules, only the Chief Minister is supposed to bring the budget copy, which wasn't the case today, the BJP alleged. Later taking to Twitter, Gehlot reacted sharply to the allegations.

"BJP just wants to show that it is against the development and progress of Rajasthan. His mind-boggling allegation that the budget was leaked shows that he will not leave the budget too with his petty politics. There is only one obstacle in 'Bachat, Rahat, Badhat' - BJP," Gehlot's tweet in Hindi read.

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Chief minister Ashok Gehlot -- also serving as the finance minister of the state -- started reading the budget at 11 am in the Assembly. The error did not come to notice until eight minutes into the reading, when an MLA sitting next to him whispered something in his ear. The opposition, immediately reacting to the Gehlot's folly, rushed to the Well and started protesting.

Though Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi repeatedly appealed to the Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria to allow the proceedings of the House, the opposition hardly paid any heed.

Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said the copy of the budget remains locked and it remains with the finance minister. For the dignity of the house, the budget should be postponed and a new date fixed, he said. The House was adjourned for about half-an-hour thereafter. This is the last budget for the Congress-led Gehlot government before assembly polls in the state.