Shimla, March 18 -- The second phase of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly's Budget Session began on Wednesday with sharp exchanges between the ruling government and the opposition, as Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur criticised the state government over the Governor's Address, alleging it lacked substance and focused largely on attacking the Centre.

The session opened with the motion of thanks on the Governor's Address, but Thakur claimed the speech failed to highlight any concrete achievements of the government led by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Speaking to ANI, Thakur pointed out that the Governor concluded the address in just over two minutes, attributing it to the tone and content of the speech.

"What I said in...