Bihar Opposition boycott state budget

Patna, Feb 25 (UNI) The entire Opposition of the Bihar Assembly today boycotted the 2008-09 budget and walked out in protest.

As soon as the house reassembled in the afternoon after nearly two-hour-long adjournment by the Speaker, the entire Opposition, led by former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, stood up in protest and trooped into the well, demanding a detailed discussion on recent murders of the party leaders in Bhagalpur and in West Champaran districts.

Despite repeated pleas, when Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhury remained adamant and did not allow any further discussion, the Opposition comprising members of the RJD, Congress, Lok Janshakti Party(LJP), CPI, CPI(M) and the CPI(ML) staged a noisy walk-out for the remaining period of the day.

They did not even turn up when the state budget proposals for the next fiscal were presented by state Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in the presence of only ruling party MLAs, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

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