Budget will be presented in parliament: Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday said "we are saddened" by the death of sitting parliamentarian and former Union Minister E. Ahamed's demise but 2017-18 Budget will be presented in Parliament.

"Our member E. Ahamedji was very active person. I just came here after paying him tribute. But we will have to think about both things simultaneously," Mahajan said.

"This is a sad incident but Budget is a constitutional thing. So, Budget will be presented. After presidential obligation order things are bound to move on," Mahajan said.

The 78-year-old senior parliamentarian from Kerala, who on Tuesday suffered a heart attack and collapsed in Parliament's Central Hall during the joint session of both the houses, died after undergoing treatment at the city-based Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital early on Wednesday.

Ahamed has served as Minister of State for External Affairs in the UPA government and has been a Lok Sabha member from Malappuram in Kerala since 1991.

--IANS

rak/in/vm