Ashok Gehlot goof-up: Rajasthan CM reads out old budget, House adjourned amid uproar by opposition | Jaipur News

JAIPUR: In a major debacle, chief minister Ashok Gehlot read out last year’s state budget (2022-23) instead of this year’s budget (2023-24) in the Rajasthan assembly on Friday.
For the first 8-10 minutes, the chief minister did not even realise that he was reading an old budget and chief whip Mahesh Joshi had to interrupt him to point out the blunder. The chief whip was informed about the mess up by top finance officials seated in the officers’ gallery in the House.
BJP members immediately seized the opportunity and stormed into the well of the House alleging that the budget had been leaked. As chaos prevailed, speaker CP Joshi adjourned the House for 30 minutes.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje issued a video clip saying, “How safe the state can be in the hands of a CM who can read an old budget for 8 minutes without realising that it is of last year.”
When the House reconvened at 11.42am, leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria questioned how other members (chief whip Joshi) could know that the CM was not having the correct budget document. “This means the budget has been leaked. The state government should now go back to the governor and seek a fresh date for presenting the budget,” Kataria said in the House.
As chaos continued in the House, speaker Joshi again adjourned the House at 12.12pm.