Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7 (IANS): The cover page of the 11th Budget presented by Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac on Friday has two different illustrations printed on it -- a first in the history of the state.

The Malayalam version of the speech, which is available on the Kerala Assembly website, contains an illustration showing Gandhi lying in pool of blood with bullet injuries as supporters surround him. But the English version shows in the background Gandhiji standing opposite Nathuram Godse who has a pistol in his hand.

Prefacing his Budget speech, Issac started by saying that democracy and dictatorship are standing face-to-face in India.

"The rulers in Delhi speak only in the language of hatred and rancour. Their followers consider violence and attack as their karma. The administrative setup has completely yielded to communalism. Generally speaking, this is the India of today," said Issac.

Reacting to this strange act by Issac, two-time former Chief Minister and a former Finance Minister himself, Oommen Chandy, called it shocking.

"I have never seen such depictions on Budget speeches; it could have been avoided. Has the Congress ever used the picture of Indira Gandhi after being shot in our election campaign? We will never do it. Issac should have avoided it," said Chandy.

Another surprising aspect of the Budget day was that contrary to the tradition of media getting a copy of the Minister's speech, today there were only a few copies printed of the Budget speech.

A sources close to the Minister told IANS that the printing of the speech was "incomplete". "So the government was unable to distribute it."