EC yet to decide, govt calls Budget session on Jan 31

New Delhi: Even as the Election Commission has sought the Centre’s response to the Opposition’s demand for postponing the Budget session, a notification went out on Saturday that the session has been convened to start from January 31.

Despite the Opposition’s objection, it’s now more or less certain that the Centre will go ahead with the Budget presentation on February 1.

President Pranab Mukherjee has summoned the Rajya Sabha to meet on January 31, an official notification said. A similar notification is also expected from the Lok Sabha secretariat, agencies reported.

While the session will begin with the President’s address to the joint sitting of the two Houses, the same day the pre-Budget economic survey will also be tabled.

The practice of separate railway budget presentation is being scrapped from this year. The railway estimates will be part of the Union Budget.

The notification comes even as Opposition parties have raised objections to the presentation of the Budget on February 1, just four days before polling begins in Punjab and Goa. With Assembly elections scheduled in five states in February-March, Opposition parties say that the BJP-led government can use the Budget to woo voters by offering sops, and tilt the balance in its favour.

They have petitioned the EC, which has asked Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha to respond on Centre’s behalf.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs had recommended that the Budget session commence on January 31 and the Budget be presented the next day so that new financial provisions come into force from April 1.