For the unversed, posing for the shutterbugs with the Budget briefcase is a peculiar ritual that takes place right outside the Parliament on the Budget day.
Nirmala Sitharaman is only the second woman finance minister to present the Union Budget and it is, by all means, a litmus test for the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) warrior today, as she makes her way to the Lok Sabha to present Budget 2019-20.
And as expected, the Sitharaman touch (read: no less than the Midas touch) has manifested itself at the start of the Budget proceedings.
Sitharaman posed for the shutterbugs with a red fabric folder -- a diversion from the age-old practice of carrying a regular maroonish briefcase.
For the unversed, posing for the shutterbugs with the Budget briefcase is a peculiar ritual that takes place right outside the Parliament on the Budget day.
What is a 'Budget Briefcase'?
The 'budget briefcase' contains the printed budget speech.
India and the Budget briefcase
On November 26, 1947, the then finance minister, RK Shanmukham Chetty, carried a leather bag when he presented Independent India's first ever budget.
Jawahar Lal Nehru carried a black briefcase in 1958. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh also carried a black briefcase when he delivered the iconic 'Epochal Budget' in the year 1991.
Piyush Goyal, who presented the interim Budget on February 1, 2019, carried a 'red briefcase'.
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