Only thing Unprecedented about Assam Budget 2020-21 is its 'Leak', Claims Opposition

Guwahati, March 6, 2020:

Hours before the State's Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the Assam Budget 2020-21, it came to light that the document was purportedly 'leaked'. Alleging this, Congress leaders staged a noisy walkout and claimed that it was an "insult" to the legislators who had congregated to listen to the budget speech and claimed that the alleged "leak" of the budget is "unprecedented".

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Opining on the matter, the leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia tells Inside Northeast that the Assam Budget is not supposed to be 'leaked', and the alleged leak of the budget even before it was presented is a sign of worry. "Look, everyone waits with eagerness for the budget presentation. Custom is that it is always laid before the members of the legislature. It is the duty of the Government."

Saikia, who along with his Congress brethren walked out of the Assembly, later conveyed to the press the need for an enquiry into the matter. "On behalf of the Assam Congress Legislature Party, I demand an enquiry by an all-party House Committee into the today’s leakage of the Budget and the said committee should be empowered to recommend measures against those found responsible for this lapse", he informed via a press release.

The veteran Congress leader also complained that " it is unfortunate that the Chief Minister, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, who was present in the House today, did not attach any importance to this serious issue."

However, later, the Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami stated that it should not be considered a ""leak" as the text document was kept separately. Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, playing down the allegations, claimed that the budget proposal of the budget 2020-21 was never put "online".

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