FM misses pre-Budget date with parties

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has done away with the practice of holding pre-Budget discussions with political parties.

With the finance minister set to present the Budget in less than a week, both the Congress and the Left parties, which were waiting for an invitation, have given up all hope.

Chidambaram has held such discussions before all the Budgets he has presented. In the past, he would come to the Congress headquarters for suggestions from the AICC office-bearers as well.

Although Chidambaram did invite suggestions from the Left parties this year, he showed no interest in a formal meeting, which normally witnesses a heated debate.

"Yes, we were expecting a meeting but what can we do if the government does not want it," quipped an AICC general secretary.

CPI(M) leaders said that it was for the finance minister to decide if he wanted to have discussions with the allies. "Anyway we have conveyed our views in a note," said a CPI(M) leader.

The Left parties are also not very keen this year. "What is the point of having such a meeting? He did not listen to any of our suggestions last year," CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said.