Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra, who has been indisposed for a while, on Monday attended the discussion on the state budget in the Assembly and promised to reply to all questions that cropped up during the debate.

Mitra had presented on the budget for 2019-20 on February 4. “I came here just to honour this august House and the respected members who have taken part in the discussions. Altogether, 29 speakers have spoken on the budget and I have got notes on what they have said. I will reply to all the points they have raised,” said Mitra.

Speaker Biman Banerjee thanked him for attending the House despite his “infirmity”.

Though Opposition members have been critical of Mitra’s budget speech, the Assembly witnessed a rare gesture when some of the Opposition MLAs requested him to sit down and deliver his 15-minute response from his seat.

From questioning the veracity of the figures on the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in the budget to asking whether the government’s claim of revenue buoyancy was correct, the Opposition has raised several questions for the finance minister during this session.

In the presence of Mitra, Congress MLA Sukhbilas Barma cited the tax-to-GSDP ratio — an indicator of revenue buoyancy — to ask whether the government’s claim about efficient tax administration was correct.

Referring to the state government’s largesse for clubs, Barma asked Mitra whether the government was committed to sticking to its objective of fiscal discipline.

“The government is denying the employees of dearness allowance. Other states have implemented pay commission reports?” asked Barma, a Congress MLA from Jalpaiguri.