BackOpposition parties ask President not to advance budget: Report
The Opposition leaders have sent a jointly signed letter to President Pranab Mukherjee to not let the BJP government to advance budget, says Indian Express report
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New Delhi: Another face-off between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and the Opposition parties is in the offing over the Narendra Modi government’s decision to advance the Union budget, says a report in The Indian Express.
“Sixteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, have written to President Pranab Mukherjee and to the Chief Election Commissioner claiming that the move to advance the Budget is an attempt to influence the assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh," the report says.
The report also says the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) on Wednesday decided that the budget session will start from 31 January. The Economic Survey is presented on the first day of the budget session, which then is followed by rail and union budgets in the next two days. This year the rail budget has been merged into the Union budget.
This is also the first time the budget session will begin in January, which earlier use to begin in end February.
In their join letter to the President, the Opposition parties have raised claimed that the NDA government advancing budget in the middle of the election campaign could influence voters and hinder the conducting of a free and fair election, the report says. In 2012, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government deferred budget presentation due to elections in five states.
The Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav and JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav have reportedly signed the letter.
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