Opposition Congress today staged a walkout from the Himachal Assembly during a discussion on the state budget.
The opposition expressed dissatisfaction over Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's reply during a debate on budget for 2018-19. They claimed that there was nothing new in the budget.
The chief minister listed new schemes and said "there are 31 new welfare schemes for different sections of the society."
He also refuted the opposition's allegations that old schemes have been renamed and said Everyone was praising the budget except the Congress."
The five day budget debate was one of the longest stretching for 16.49 hours with participation of 47 members from both the ruling and the opposition.
The chief minister lashed out at the opposition and said that the Congress government raised loans amounting Rs 18,787 from 2013 to 2017 and as a result the present government had to make provision of Rs 4,260 crore for interest payment and Rs and Rs 3184 for repayment of loans.
The BJP government raised loans amounting Rs 1,124 crore and not Rs 2,200 crore as claimed by the Congress, the chief minister said.
He said that the Congress government incurred an expenditure of Rs 75 lakh on buses of Himachal Road Transportation Corporation (HRTC), used to ferry people for Mandi rally of AICC President Rahul Gandhi.
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