Old 'political' vehicles: Sitharaman's slip of tongue cheers up Parliament

"Vehicle replacement is an important ongoing policy," she said, "Replacing the old political... oh, sorry...," and then paused when she realised her mistake.

New Delhi:The House erupted in laughter for a brief moment during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Budget speech on Wednesday. In a slip of tongue, Sitharaman said "replacing old political vehicles" instead of "replacing old polluting vehicles". The Finance Minister was speaking on a policy about taking old vehicles off the road, during her fifth Budget speech in the Parliament.

"Vehicle replacement is an important ongoing policy," she said, "Replacing the old political... oh, sorry...," and then paused when she realised her mistake. The House cheered up amid the otherwise tight apprehensive mood that is usually the situation when Budgets are presented. Sitharaman was quick to correct herself. "I know!," she said and kept stressing on the word "polluting" multiple times as she continued with her speech.

Sitharaman was speaking about the government's motive in maintaining a green economy by replacing old vehicles as part of the Modi government's environment conservation policy. "Replacing old polluting vehicles is an important part of greening our economy," she continued.

This was the last Budget statement of the Modi 2.0 government before it goes for general election in summer next year. The Finance Minister said that replacing old polluting vehicles is an important step towards a green economy. She also sought cooperation from the states in scrapping old vehicles and ambulances. "Funds have been allocated for it," she added.