Ahead of Budget Session, govt convenes all-party meeting on Jan 27

Ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament, the government has called an all-party meeting on January 27 to discuss the legislative and other agendas.

The Budget Session will begin on January 28, with President Draupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

In a rare occasion in parliamentary history, the Union budget would be presented on February 1, which is a Sunday. This will be Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's ninth consecutive budget.

"The all-party meeting, convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, will be held at the main committee room of Parliament House annexe at 11 am on January 27," a government source said.

 

The Budget Session will continue till April 2. The first phase will conclude on February 13, with Parliament reassembling on March 9.

The session comes at a time when the opposition Congress is conducting a nationwide campaign against the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, which replaces the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

The ruling BJP is meanwhile running a counter campaign to highlight the new legislation as reformist and necessary to plug loopholes of the old law.

The Union Budget will also be presented at a time when US President Donald Trump's tariffs have upended the global economic order.

According to an internal circular, the Lok Sabha has provisionally allotted three days -- February 2 to 4 -- for discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address. There will be no Zero Hour on January 28 and February 1.

As many as nine bills are pending before the Lok Sabha, including the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025; the Securities Markets Code, 2025; and the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024.

These bills are currently being scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing or Select Committees.