EC to take call on parties’ objection to Union Budget on 1 February
Chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi said various political parties have approached the Election Commission regarding the Union Budget date
On a day when it announced the schedule for elections to five state assemblies, the Election Commission (EC) said it was examining a petition by some political parties to delay the presentation of the Union budget.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley is due to present the budget for fiscal year 2018 on 1 February, days before the start of polling. Elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur are to be held between 4 February and 8 March, with counting of votes to be taken up on 11 March.
“The EC has received one representation sent by some political parties which is in regards to presentation of the (Union) budget. The commission is examining this representation and we will take a call on this in due course of time," said chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi.
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In the representation, some political parties requested the EC to disallow presentation of the Union budget during the poll campaign as announcements made in it could influence voters. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said he did not foresee the election schedule having any impact on the budget. He pointed out at a press conference on Wednesday that even before the 2014 general elections, an interim budget was presented.
After the announcement of the poll schedule, opposition parties including the Congress, Left, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party, as well as the Shiv Sena, a partner in the National Democratic Alliance, sought a change in the Union budget date.
The Congress, along with several other opposition parties, had earlier written to President Pranab Mukherjee and requested that the budget should be presented after the polls to avoid “disruption, inconvenience and undue influence on the voters".
Remya Nair contributed to this story.
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