Hours before her eighth consecutive Budget announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stood in a white sari outside the ministry this morning, holding a tablet enclosed in a ‘bahi khata’ case. She later received official clearance for the Budget presentation when President Droupadi Murmu met her at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Carrying a briefcase on Budget Day has a history. The word “budget” originates from the French word “bougette,” meaning “little leather briefcase.” The tradition was first introduced in the 18th century by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, who opened the Budget with a yearly financial statement. In 1860, British Budget chief William Gladstone delivered his address using a red case with the Queen’s monogram for the documents. When India became independent, the first Finance Minister, R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, used a leather portfolio on Budget day. Other Finance Ministers followed this tradition until Sitharaman broke the norm. She eventually opted for the ‘bahi khata’ before turning to a tablet.
FM Sitharaman will have presented eight consecutive Budgets, the longest uninterrupted streak for any Indian Finance Minister. The late Morarji Desai holds the record for most Budgets, having presented ten. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented nine.
For this special occasion, Sitharaman paid homage to traditional Indian art. She chose a saree with Madhubani art. During her visit to Madhubani, Bihar, as part of a credit outreach project, Padma Shri awardee Dulari Devi gifted her the saree and requested that she wear it on Budget day.
