There was a protest staged by the opposition lawmakers on Wednesday over alleged "leak" of Maharashtra budget provisions on Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar's Twitter handle before presentation in the Assembly. They sought a probe into the matter.
A demonstration was held over the issue in the state legislature premises during the ongoing monsoon session by the legislators, including NCP's Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and Dhananjay Munde.
"The government leaked the budget on Twitter even before it was presented before the legislature by Mungantiwar on Tuesday. We are protesting against the government's such an irresponsible approach. We want a probe into the matter by the cyber cell," Munde said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis and Mungantiwar on Tuesday dismissed the budget "leak" charge. They claimed that the provisions were put out on Twitter 15 minutes after the finance minister began his budget speech in the Assembly.
The picture uploaded was:
With the caption:
The interim budget presented on 27th February 2019 amounted to Rs. 4,03,207 crores. Now with new initiatives and additions, it has increased by Rs. 1,586 crores.#MahaBudget2019
Meanwhile, the opposition legislators have also criticised the BJP-led state government regarding the drought situation and sought complete farm loan waiver. They further hit out at the government for allegedly sidelining senior BJP MLA Eknath Khadse, as he approached the legislature premises to attend the session.
Khadse was earlier considered No. 2 in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. He had resigned from the cabinet in June 2016 over corruption allegations in a land deal but was later given a clean chit by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.