JOIN USUnprecedented scenes marked the presentation of the 2017-18 Kerala state Budget on Friday, as the Congress-led Opposition disrupted proceedings in the Assembly over a reported leak of excerpts from the document on social media.
About two hours into the Budget presentation, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala stood up with “leaked” excerpts sourced by his office staff, even as Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac was presenting it in the House.
A member of the minister’s personal staff was removed from his position in connection with the incident.
“The budget has lost its sanctity... I can read out from these documents what the finance minister is going to present,” Chennithala said, amid assurances from Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the allegations would be probed.
Responding to the charges, Isaac said while the issue was serious, he did not have the details to make a clarification. MLAs of the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) protested against the leak in the well of the House and walked out in protest.