NEW DELHI: It was an unprecedented scenario in Lok Sabha today when Finance P Chidambaram presented his interim budget as some of his own ministerial colleagues were in the Well raising slogans against the decision to create Telangana state.
Chidambaram, who was presenting the last budget of UPA-II, remained unfazed as he delivered his hour-long budget speech amid sloganeering by some Congress members from Andhra Pradesh along with those from TMC, AIADMK and SP.
Union Ministers Chiranjeevi, D Purandeswari, K S Rao, Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy and other Congress members Bapi Raju and G V Harsha Kumar were in the Well demanding a united Andhra Pradesh.
As the budget was being presented, Harsha Kumar stood near the Speaker’s table and later leaned on it even though some members asked him to move away.
Minister M M Pallam Raju and few other members were on their feet in the aisle.
The Finance Minister, who began the budget presentation at around 11.10 AM, halted his speech for a couple of minutes in the initial stage due to sloganeering from the members.
The Finance Minister was seen talking to Union Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Kamal Nath, apparently conveying his determination to carry on with his speech. He was heard saying, “(I am) not going back.”
This was the first interim budget by Chidambaram who has presented eight full budgets in the past, the second highest in number by a finance minister.
The maximum of ten budgets was presented by Morarji Desai, while Pranab Mukherjee (currently the President), Yashwant Sinha, Y B Chavan and C D Deshmukh had presented seven budgets each.
Chidambaram concluded his speech with couplets of Tamil sage Thiruvalluvar.
Apart from MPs from Seemandhra region who were in the Well, AIADMK members were also raising slogans from their seats during most part of Chidambaram’s speech.
Members from Samajwadi Party and the Left protested against disorder in the House but later went back to their seats after an assurance by Speaker Meira Kumar that she would hear them in her chamber.
Towards the fag end of the Finance Minister’s speech, the high decibel of sloganeering by TMC members rose considerably even as one of them, carrying a placard, shouted ‘Bengal hungry…shame shame’.
Defense Minister A K Antony was all smiles when Chidambaram announced increase in allocation for defense also the decision to have one-rank one-pension scheme for ex-servicemen.
Some leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were seen making notes during the budget presentation.
Chidambaram, clad in his trademark white shirt and dhoti, was greeted by thumping of desks by the Treasury benches when he listed the strides made by the UPA government in last ten years, including in the areas of foodgrain production, construction of roads, power generation and education.–PTI
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