Budget Session of Parliament from today

The 42-day-long Budget Session of Parliament will begin from today and will have 28 sittings.

During this period, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government's first Railway and General Budgets on July 8 and July 10 respectively.

The Economic Survey will be released on July 9. The session will end on August 14.

During the session, the Congress-led Opposition is likely to put pressure on the government on issues such as inflation, the hike in rail and fuel fares, womens' safety and the communal flareup in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad District.

The Congress may also push its case for the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on grounds that it has the most seats (44) in the opposition.

The Trinamool Congress and Left parties have said they will seek a discussion on inflation, internal security and federalism after the presentation of the Rail and General Budgets.

The government is also expected to make a statement in both Houses of Parliament on the plight of Indians in strife-torn Iraq.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has been quoted by a television channel, as saying that if Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rules against Congress on the Leader of Opposition issue, it would be right and proper for the Congress to go to the court.

He insisted that there is no rule, which says that a party cannot get Leader of Opposition status unless it has 10 per cent of the total strength of the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Nath contended that Mahajan's decision on the issue could be flavoured by the BJP and Narendra Modi.

He was apparently responding to Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu' sattement in Hyderabad on Sunday that the issue of giving Leader of Opposition (LoP) status is before the Lok Sabha Speaker, and everyone must abide by the presiding officer's decision.