Why no mention of demonetisation in Union budget, asks Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday questioned the central government again on the demonetisation issue and said that the government did not mention about it in its budget.

"Every detail is discussed in the budget usually. But when demonetisation was implemented then there was no mention of it in the budget. This was really surprising and I did not understand it," Thackeray said at an event here.

Thackeray was speaking at a function held in the central hall of the Maharashtra Assembly to mark the launch of a book written by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The book was launched by Thackeray.

This was the first time that Thackeray and Fadnavis shared the stage after the conclusion of the Maharashtra Assembly election last year.

"It is good that Devendra Fadnavis wrote a book on budget and I will read it for sure to understand the process of budgeting. It is difficult to understand the budget. I am also no different but since I am a chief minister now I will have to understand it," Thackeray said.

Thackeray further advised the former chief minister Fadnavis in a lighter vein to keep writing books on the budget for the next 5-10 years.

"It is good that you wrote a book on the budget before Maharashtra government's first issue of its statement of accounts. We expect that you keep writing on budget for the next 5-10 years so that we continue to learn about our shortcomings," he said.