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Opposition cries 'leak'; we're in tech age, counters CM Devendra Fadnavis

Twitter Row: Rival parties accuse Finance minister’s office of sharing details even before budget is presented

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Opposition leaders protest outside the Assembly on the Budget day on Tuesday
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The Opposition targeted Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and his office, accusing them of leaking the details of the Budget on Twitter before it was presented in the state legislature on Tuesday. Demanding an apology, the opposition members walked out of both houses, before interrupting the proceedings.

The charges were countered by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who said the information was shared on the social media only after certain details were read out. "We are living in modern age and technology is the main part of it. So using Twitter is not a crime. It should also reach the masses."

The Budget was presented by Mungantiwar in the Assembly, while Minister of State (Finance) Deepak Kesarkar did the job in the Legislative Council.

Chaos struck the Upper House after Dhananjay Munde, leader of the opposition, alleged that the government first gave out crucial details on the micro-blogging site. "This is a breach of house prerogative. It also shows that the details of the Budget must have been shared with the graphics team in advance to prepare designs for every announcement. The finance minister should apologise for this violation," Munde said.

In Lower House, NCP leader Ajit Pawar led the Opposition attack. "In the history of Maharashtra, never have the Budget been leaked by the finance minister's office." Pawar too demanded an apology apart from action against those responsible for the 'leak'.

The ruckus prompted Speaker Ramraje Nimbalkar to adjourn the proceedings in the Upper House for 10 minutes. He said he would need to verify the charges by calling a meeting of the top leaders of all parties.

However, the BJP did not take kindly to the Speaker's decision. Party's group leader in the Upper House, Chandrakant Patil, alleged that the Speaker was biased. "We have time and again said that the Speaker of the Lower House has always given step-motherly treatment to the ruling party members. We want to bring a no-confidence motion against him. We will not tolerate his irrational behaviour."

Congress legislator Nasim Khan said the BJP does not believe in the law of the land and customs. "Whatever suits them that is always right for them and if someone opposes it, then the dissent voices are branded as anti-national and Naxals."

‘Quite Pessimistic’ 

'This is a poll Budget'
They should have used their election manifesto. The Budget is presented to tell the income and expenditure and proposed plan for the state, but here the government has made the announcements to lure the voters. This is a vote for account budget for the next three months
—Prithviraj Chavan, Former CM and Congress leader

We were expecting complete farm loan waiver, jobs for youths, concrete plan to rekindle the sluggish state economy. The Budget is quite pessimistic on many fronts. Many announcements have already been declared in the interim budget. This is nothing but an election budget
—Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council

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