The National Assembly on Tuesday approved 136 demands for grants worth trillions of rupees presented by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb despite strong opposition resistance and repeated calls for a vote count.

The approved demands cover allocations for key ministries and departments, including defence production, law, education, foreign affairs, and health.

However, opposition lawmakers, led by Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub, objected to the clause-by-clause approval process, demanding detailed scrutiny and counts on each vote.

During the session, Ayub sarcastically suggested calling a medical team from Polyclinic, stating, “A heart attack is likely just hearing the amount of these demands.”

As the government pressed forward, opposition members challenged the approval process, prompting Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to call for a vote.

The vote resulted in 116 members in favour and 32 against the proposed allocations.

However, the Speaker dismissed further calls from the opposition to count members during individual approvals, triggering further criticism from the opposition benches.

Among the approved allocations, Rs1.093 billion was earmarked for the Ministry of Defence Production.

Additionally, six demands were approved for the Ministry of Law, five for the Ministry of Education, and two each for the Information and Broadcasting Division, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Single demand approvals were granted for the Housing and Works Division, Maritime Affairs, Senate, Ministry of Health, Overseas Pakistanis Division, and the Ministry of Planning, while the Railways Division received approval for two demands.