Budget session of Chhattisgarh Assembly to start from Wednesday

The budget session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly will begin from Wednesday and the budget for 2023-24 will be tabled on March 6, Speaker Charan Das Mahant said here on Tuesday.

It would be the last budget session of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government before the state goes to polls at the end of 2023. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it would corner the government on several issues including the deteriorating law and order situation. The session will commence with Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan's address on Wednesday followed by the tabling of the motion of thanks on the Governor's address, Mahant said at a press conference.

The debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor's address is proposed to be held on March 3, he said. Chief Minister Baghel, who also holds the finance portfolio, would present the budget on March 6, Mahant said. The session will have 14 sittings and conclude on March 24. As of Tuesday, 1,590 questions were received from the legislators including 812 starred questions and 768 un-starred questions, the Speaker said. Similarly, 57 notices have been received for call attention motion. The visitor's gallery will be reopened for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic, Mahant said.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly will launch its mobile app (Android version) on March 1. The app will have information related to budget, questions, Governor's address and proceedings of the House, he added. Senior BJP MLA Dharamlal Kaushik said his party was fully ready to corner the government on issues like the deteriorating law and order situation, rising incidents of rape and flourishing trade in contraband materials. Rise in the incidents of human-elephant conflict and broken poll promises of the Congress will also be raised in the House, he added.