Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Gehlot’s faux pas: Reads last year’s budget speech
JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot read out a section of 2022-23’s Budget speech when he rose to present the Budget for 2023-24, embarrassing himself and his party colleagues, drawing criticism from the Opposition, and allegations that the budget for the coming year had been leaked after the mistake was first noticed by government officials in the viewing gallery of the house.
The portion read out by Gehlot had to be expunged from the records, and his gaffe even drew the attention of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman who referred to it in the course of her reply to the budget discussion in the Lok Sabha.
In Jaipur, the session had to be adjourned for half an hour by assembly speaker CP Joshi, even as Gehlot apologised for the error, and said that one page of the previous budget had been mistakenly attached to his speech in a “human error.”
On Friday, Gehlot started speaking at 11 am, and spoke glowingly of the efforts of the Congress government, including its work in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. At eight minutes past 11, the CM began speaking on the specifics of the state budget and announced the Indira Gandhi Urban Guarantee Scheme, a programme for the urban unemployed the state government announced in the 2022-23 budget. Even as Gehlot began shuffling through his pages, officers in the viewing gallery began showing discomfiture, and alerted chief whip Mahesh Joshi, who in turn relayed the information to Gehlot, who stopped his speech.
The opposition BJP rushed to the well of the house. CP Joshi, the assembly speaker, tried to calm proceedings and said, “Whatever happened is unfortunate. But it was a human error” and asked the opposition to return to their seats. But as loud protests continued, he was forced to adjourn the house for half an hour.
The BJP alleged that the fact that officials alerted the CM of the error meant that the “budget had been leaked”. “This has never hap
GEHLOT APOLOGISED, AND SAID THAT ONE PAGE OF THE PREVIOUS BUDGET HAD BEEN MISTAKENLY ATTACHED TO HIS SPEECH.
pened before in history. The budget has its sanctity and that the Chief Minister was told by an outsider that he read the wrong passage, which means that the budget was leaked,” said leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said.
Even after the house reconvened, the BJP continued to protest, and Joshi had to apologise. Despite this appeal, the sloganeering continued, forcing a second adjournment, till 12:11 pm.
Rising to speak after the house re-assembled, Gehlot apologised and called it a human error. “An extra page was placed mistakenly in the budget speech, and therefore the error took place. The state will not forgive the BJP as they are delaying the budget,” he said.
The CM also attacked the previous BJP regime in the state, and alleged that when Vasundhara Raje led the government, incorrect figures were announced in the hall, and then rectified. Hitting back, Raje said, “What you have done is sheer carelessness...”