Finance Minister Arun Jaitley read out his budget speech sitting because of a back pain
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a break in the middle of his budget presentation because of a severe back pain and read out much of his speech sitting, an unusual departure from tradition.
The Lok Sabha adjourned briefly at 11.47 am after Mr Jaitley sought a five-minute break due to his back pain. He told Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that he wanted to rest. It is the first time that a finance minister has ever paused during his budget speech.
After the house reassembled, Mr Jaitley resumed his speech sitting.
The 61-year-politician is known to suffer from recurring backaches and is also diabetic.
A budget speech usually lasts over two hours, and finance ministers usually soldier on by shifting their weight and pausing for water.