Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday mistakenly read out excerpts from the previous year’s Budget instead of the document for 2023-’24, PTI reported.
Video footage from the state Assembly showed Gehlot, who also holds the finance portfolio, reading out from the Budget papers before being interrupted by Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi. He then stopped and apologised, after which MLAs from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party erupted in laughter and shouted: “Shame, shame!”
The Opposition then stormed into the well of the House in protest, after which proceedings were adjourned for half an hour.
Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria questioned whether the Budget had been leaked and demanded that the document be framed anew and then presented in the Assembly, ANI reported. He said that the Budget should only have been known to Gehlot, and questioned how other MLAs knew that it was the wrong document.
“What else can this be, if not a leaked Budget?” he asked. “You [Gehlot] must frame the Budget again and then present it in the House. We will have no objection.”
However, Gehlot said: “You [Opposition] can point out only if there’s a difference between what’s written in the Budget in my hand and its copies given to the House members. If a page was added to my Budget copy by mistake, then how does the matter of leaking of Budget arise?”
The chief minister subsequently proceeded to present the Budget in the House.
Gehlot also said on Twitter: “The BJP only wants to show that it is against Rajasthan’s development and progress. Their baseless allegations about the Budget document being leaked only show that the BJP does not spare even the Budget from its petty politics.”
Measures for gig workers
In the Budget, Gehlot announced several measures for gig workers in Rajasthan, reported PTI.
The chief minister said that there is an increase in gig workers who are associated with companies such as Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon and others.
“Until now, there was no arrangement of social security for them,” Gehlot said, according to PTI. “To protect them from harassment, I propose to bring the Gig Workers Welfare Act, under which, along with the formation of the Gig Workers Welfare Board, a Gig Workers Welfare Fund will be established with Rs 200 crore.”
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