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After Pant, CM Rawat interacts with people on state budget
The state budget is expected to be announced on March 21
Uttarakhand finance minister Prakash Pant had begun the state budget related preparations by initiating interaction with the public and also conducting live Facebook session to interact with a wider audience. However, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat now seems to have picked up the budget related deliberations leaving Pant out. The state budget is expected to be announced on 21 March.
Former chief Minister Harish Rawat had also taken the lead in interacting with the public over the previous state budgets. He had gone to various cities and interacted with people, taking suggestions for the budget.
Although party insiders might have been thinking of taking the entire credit, the party rules it out saying this is a collective work.
Pant said that there is no point of conflict with the chief minister over the budget. “We are a collective team and the chief minister is the overall in-charge of the state due to which his keenness on the budget is commendable,” said Pant.
Pant also pointed out that the chief minister, through his interactions with people at various places, has come up with several suggestions in the state budget that are being incorporated.
Madan Kaushik, the government spokesperson also ruled out any point of conflict on the issue. The state budget is a collective responsibility and all the ministers are pitching in with suggestions. “The chief minister’s activeness on the budget shows the commitment of the government towards a budget that is beneficial to all,” he said.
Congress leader Sumit Hridyesh said, “This shows the one-upmanship within the BJP and the same thing is happening at the centre where our Prime Minister has visited more countries that the external affairs minister.” The Congress leader advised that the BJP should concentrate on mitigating the problems of the people rather than the leaders taking credit for various schemes.
