Budget 2020: Sitharaman Cuts Short Budget Speech After Feeling Unwell

Nirmala Sithraman broke her own record of a 2-hour-17-minute-long maiden Budget speech in July 2017.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Budget 2020: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday cut short her Budget speech as she felt unwell after speaking for a record 160 minutes in Lok Sabha. Sitharaman had only two pages of her Budget speech unread when she appeared uneasy and was seen wiping sweat from her forehead. Reports say her speech was 2.48 hr long. She was offered candies by her ministerial colleagues, but that did not help and she opted to discontinue the speech asking Speaker Om Birla to consider the remaining part of her speech as read, reported PTI. This was the longest Budget speech by any finance minister. She broke her own record of a 2-hour-17-minute-long maiden Budget speech in July 2017. Meanwhile, BJP Minister Smriti Irani also slammed Congress Rahul Gandhi for not paying attention to Sitharaman's speech & said he was all the while laughing & making fun of the speech. Irani hailed the budget as historic and said most sectors have been kept in mind.