Indian finance ministers have long carried a briefcase containing documents before they present the budget. The famous 'Budget Briefcase' is a tradition passed on by the British. On budget day, finance ministers pose with the briefcase outside the parliament.

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But on Friday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present her maiden budget in parliament, entered the finance ministry in South Block holding a red cover containing the Union budget papers. Surprise! She did not have the Budget Briefcase.

Sitharaman carried a traditional "bahikhatta," or ledger, in a break with budget tradition but opting for a practice rooted in Indian tradition.

Union Budget 2019: Here's everything you need to know about the finance minister's briefcase

Bahikhatta is a ledger account that records and retrieves the data of a company, non-profit organisation or a person's financial transaction daily.

The finance minister told CNBC-TV18 that it was her family's suggestion that she drop the briefcase. She said that she wanted to get out of the colonial hangover by dropping the briefcase.

New chief economic advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, who presented his maiden economic survey on Thursday, had an explanation.

The traditional bahikhatta is in the Indian tradition and symbolises the departure of slavery from "our Western thought", according to him. The budget is actually "desh ka bahikhatta", he said.

First Published:Jul 5, 2019 9:55 AM IST