In a rare gesture, the Andhra Pradesh assembly has deferred the presentation of the annual budget by the Chandrababu Naidu government by at least two days, following the death of Nandyal MLA Bhuma Nagi Reddy on Sunday.
A notification to this effect was issued by the assembly secretariat in the afternoon, a couple of hours after the death of Bhuma.
As per the schedule, finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu will present the budget in the assembly at Velagapudi at 11 am on Monday. However, the assembly and council will be closed for the day as mark of respect to the departed soul.
The assembly will assemble again on Tuesday but will get adjourned soon after paying homage to Bhuma Nagi Reddy.
The Business Advisory Committee of the assembly will meet after that to decide the exact date of the presentation of the budget. In all probability, it will be presented on Wednesday.
It is a rare that any government is postponing the budget presentation for the sake of a deceased MLA. But there is a convention that the House will suspend all its other transactions when a sitting MLA dies.
However, the NDA government did not follow this convention recently. On January 31, former union minister and sitting Lok Sabha member E Ahamed collapsed in the House itself and was rushed to the hospital. He died in the early hours of February 1.
As per the convention, the Lok Sabha should have adjourned for the day after paying condolences to the deceased member.
However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely went ahead with the budget presentation, despite protests from the Congress members.