Budget Session to commence on Feb. 23 (Update)

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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that Budget Session of the Parliament will begin on February 23.

The decision in this regard was taken in the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) meeting headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

While the first session will continue till March 16, the second session will take place from April 25 to May 13.

"The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs met today and it was decided to recommend to the President to request him to address joint session of Parliament on 23rd February," Naidu said.

"And then after that we will be having the discussion then we will have Railway Budget on 25th then we will have Economic Survey on 26th then 27th and 28th holidays because of Saturday and Sunday and 29th we are proposing to have the Budget and then the discussions will go up to 16th March," he added.

He further said that out of total 81-day duration, there will be enough time for the Standing Committees to scrutinise the budget proposals and then they would be having 31 sittings.

"The Committee has finalised it and this has been sent to the President Pranab Mukherjee with a request to address the joint session," he said.

The government is keen to push its legislative agenda, thwarted in the last two sessions, while the Opposition is all geared up to target the ruling dispensation on a host of issues, including the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula and imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

The ongoing political crisis in Jammu and Kashmir is also likely to be raised by the Opposition during the Budget Session.

The government has been critical of the Opposition for blocking the House proceedings and important legislations.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had earlier on Wednesday held a meeting with her party's core committee on parliamentary affairs - comprising whips of both Houses - to chalk out the party's strategy during the Budget Session.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has invited various political parties for an informal meeting later in the day in Parliament House to seek their advice on the Budget Session.