LUCKNOW, Feb. 12 -- If it was the record-making 10th successive budget of the Yogi Adityanath government, UP finance minister Suresh Khanna too has scripted history by presenting his 7th budget in a row. He presented his first budget in 2020. And within this record-breaking performance, there has been one constant thing about Khanna's budget presentation-poetry in both Hindi and Urdu. On Wednesday too, while presenting the UP Budget 2026-27, he interspersed the hard data, figures, statistics and economics with verses liberally in this one-hour-fifteen-minute speech. The verses evoked smiles and thumping from both the treasury and opposition benches, even when nearly half of those verses took a dig at the opposition. "CM Yogi Adityanath, since the very first day of his first tenure, has been working hard for every section of the society," the minister said while defining the CM as "Yahi junoon, yahi khwab mera hai; diya jala ke roshni kar doon jahan andhera hai! (It's my obsession and my dream that wherever there is dark, I light a lamp)". Yogi responded with a smile on the poetic adulation. Khanna recited six verses during the speech. While saying that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi, the state is expanding fast in the areas of information technology and establishing itself as an IT hub, Khanna said: "Sitara ban ke aasmaan mein wahi chamakte hain; dubo dete hain joh apne aap ko paseene mein (Only those shine like a star on the horizon, who drown themselves in sweat)." Attacking the opposition and previous governments over the neglect of ancient cultural heritage of the state and asserting that the Yogi government was dedicatedly working towards preservation and revitalisation of cultural and religious heritage, Khanna said: "Yeh alag baat hai tum na badlo, magar zamana badal raha hai; gulaab patthar pe khil rahe hain; chirag aandhiyon mein jal rahe hain (It is altogether a different thing that you are averse to change, but the world is changing, roses are blooming on rocks and lamps are glowing amid dust storm." Talking about the labour community, poor and tribals, he recited: "Badi mushkil se koi subah muskurati hai, gam ki har shaam dabe paon chali aati hai; waqt lagta hi nahin zindagi badalne mein, par badalne mein waqt zindagi lag jaati hai (For many, morning brings joy with much difficulty, but sadness creeps in with nimble feet; life changes within no time, but it takes a lifetime to change time)". About improvement in law and order, he recited: "Kabiley tareef hai andaaz ek ek kaam ka; ga raha hai geet UP, Yogi ji ke naam ka! (Every single work and endeavour of his is praiseworthy; UP is singing a song in praise of Yogi)" And as a parting shot in which he attacked the previous governments and praised his own, Khanna said: "Baat anmol bahut hai yeh zindagi ke liye, bata raha hoon falsafa main har kisi ke liye; pochh sakte ho toh dukhiyon ke pochh lo aansu, na jiye aap faqat apni hi khushi ke liye! (It's my priceless advice, and this philosophy is for everyone: If you can wipe the tears of the distressed, then do it; don't live for yourself alone)"....