New Delhi: Rajasthan State Assembly proceedings were disrupted on Friday as the Opposition alleged that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was presenting an old budget, also alleging a "leak". The Chief Minister dismissed it saying that a page was added to his budget copy "by mistake" and asked, "how does the matter of leaking of budget arise".


"This budget cannot be presented. Was it leaked?," BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria remarked in the state assembly.




"For eight minutes, CM kept reading the old budget. When I was the CM, I used to repeatedly check and read before presenting the budget. You can imagine how safe the state is in the hands of a CM who reads out an old budget," former Rajasthan CM and senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje said, as per news agency ANI.







Ashok Gehlot, who also holds the finance portfolio, dismissed the allegation saying, "You (Opposition) can point out only if there's a difference between what's written in the budget in my hand and its copies were 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?" ANI reported.


According to news agency PTI, Opposition BJP members created a ruckus in the Rajasthan Assembly on Friday soon after CM Ashok Gehlot started presenting the state budget leading to a brief adjournment of proceedings.


Shortly after the Chief Minister began the budget speech, the BJP members stormed to the well of the House. Speaker CP Joshi directed the members to maintain order in the House but the uproar continued. He then adjourned the House for 30 minutes.


CM Ashok Gehlot began the budget presentation again with an apology, "I feel sorry, what happened was by mistake".


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Earlier in the day, Ashok Gehlot arrived at the State Assembly with a 'budget briefcase' to present the Rajasthan budget on the theme of 'Bachat, Rahat, Badhat' (saving, relief and progress).


This is the last budget of the present Congress government as the state is going for an assembly election later this year.


Notably, for the first time, the state budget is being shown live in all government and private colleges of the state.