Budget 2020: Nirmala Sitharaman paused mid-way and said she was tabling the rest of the speech.
Highlights
- In a first, Nirmala Sitharaman did not complete her Budget Speech
- She paused mid-way and sat down because she reportedly felt unwell
- Budget should be considered read, she told the Lok Sabha
In a first, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday did not complete her Union Budget 2020 speech, which was the longest ever. She paused mid-way and sat down because she reportedly felt unwell, and had to be given sugar.
The 60-year-old Finance Minister was sweating and tired standing for nearly two and a half hours she had some sugar and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She told the Lok Sabha that there were only two more pages and the Budget should be considered read.
Her blood pressure reportedly fell and she was advised to sit. Colleagues appeared to offer her candy. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur was seen giving her a glass of water. As she appeared reluctant to continue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appeared to reassure her.
Later, the Finance Minister said she was "feeling better" and went to the Rajya Sabha to place the Budget in the house.
Ms Sitharaman beat her own record of the longest Budget speech ever. Last year, her speech lasted two hours, 17 minutes. This year, she stopped for breath at two hours and 41 minutes.
The long budget speech also featured Kashmiri verse and Tamil poetry.
Before Ms Sitharaman, former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh had the distinction; last year, she beat him by 2 minutes.
In 2014, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget speech was two hours and 10 minutes long.
Former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh's iconic 1991 Budget speech is also among the longest. His reaction to Saturday's budget was: "It's such a long budget, I was unable to absorb it."