Rajasthan budget 'model' for country: CM Gehlot hits back at PM Modi; says 'will send copy to Centre'

At a rally in Rajasthan's Dausa, PM Modi brought up a goof-up by Gehlot during the Rajasthan Budget presentation when he accidentally read parts of the budget from the previous year. 

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's goof-up during the Rajasthan budget presentation, the Congress leader called his state budget a model for others to follow and said he would send a copy to the Centre on Monday, February 13.

On Sunday, while addressing people in Rajasthan's Dausa, PM Modi remarked on a goof-up at the Rajasthan Budget presentation in which CM Gehlot read portions of the previous year's budget. The Prime Minister mocked the Congress, claiming its announcements were only on paper and the party lacked vision.

In response, Ashok Gehlot said he corrected his error within 34 seconds and that his government's performance in the state, which will face an election this year, has rattled the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The chief minister of Rajasthan told PTI, "I can give the prime minister a copy of the budget, and he can give it to Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister. They will realise that our budget is a model budget."

The budget we presented in Rajasthan could serve as a model for the rest of the country. We have taken care of all sections and families. Such a budget is unusual, he continued. 

During the interview, the chief minister also downplayed party divisions in Rajasthan, where he and his former deputy Sachin Pilot have been at odds. Pilot led a rebellion in 2020 to change the state's leadership.

(With inputs from PTI)