Second half of Budget Session begins Monday, expected to be stormy

The second half of the Budget Session of Parliament, which will begin on Monday, is expected to be stormy with the Congress deciding to attack the government on a range of issues including violence in Delhi and its handling of the economy.

The government is expected to push its legislative agenda that includes Bills relating to surrogacy and resolution of disputed tax.

Forty-two persons have been killed in violence in Delhi earlier this week and some opposition parties including the Congress have sought the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Congress has accused the Central and Delhi governments of failing to contain the violence that erupted in parts of northeast Delhi.

Sources said a meeting was held at the residence of party chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday which discussed party's strategy to corner the government in Parliament on Delhi violence.

The BJP has accused Congress of "politicising" the violence and said there was "instigation" by opposition leaders to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Congress has also accused the BJP-led government of ruining the Indian economy by its "monumental mismanagement."

Congress leader Anand Sharma said on Saturday the GDP for the third quarter was at 4.7 per cent and it was the seventh consecutive quarter when the GDP has fallen.

The first half of the Budget Session of Parliament, which began on January 31 with an address by President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of two houses, saw protests over the CAA.

Apart from Finance Bill 2020, Aircraft (Amendment) Bill and The Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill were among the legislation introduced in the first half that concluded on February 11.

The government's legislative agenda for the Budget Session of Parliament includes nearly 45 Bills and seven financial items.

It includes replacing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 and the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 with Bills during the session.

The Budget Session is slated to conclude on April 3.

The Union Budget was presented on February 1 and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to the debate on the budget.