Page 15 - Budget Session

Second leg of Budget session begins today, Govt aims to pass pending bills

The second leg of the Budget session of Parliament will begin today and it will continue till April 6

Oppn MPs move adjournment & suspension of business notices in Parliament

The opposition MPs have moved an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha and also given a notice for suspension of business in the Rajya Sabha

CM Dhami to chair key Cabinet meeting today ahead of Budget session

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will chair a key cabinet meeting on Monday (today) ahead of the presentation of the budget session, an official statement said

Oppn to meet at Kharge's office ahead of 2nd phase of Budget session Monday

Opposition leaders will hold a meeting on Monday morning to firm up their floor strategy for the second leg of the Budget session as they gear up to corner the government on issues such as alleged misuse of probe agencies and the Adani row. The opposition leaders are expected to meet at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's office in the Parliament complex at around 10 am, sources said. The Congress MPs will gather at the Congress Parliamentary Party office before the meeting to deliberate on the party's strategy, they said. The Congress is also set for a duel with the BJP over Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the UK over which the saffron party's leaders have been continuously attacking the former AICC chief. Opposition parties are gearing up to corner the government on issues such as alleged misuse of probe agencies to target their leaders, allegations against the Adani Group, border standoff with China, price rise and unemployment. The Congress continues to demand a

VP flags 'free fall of info' in name of freedom of speech in all-party meet

Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday sought views of leaders of various political parties on ways to curb disruptions in the House at a meeting held on the eve of the start of the second phase of the Budget session. Opposition members raised the issue of alleged misuse of central agencies against non-BJP governments and the move to appoint Dhankhar's personal staff on parliamentary committees. Sources said that during his interaction with floor leaders, Vice-President Dhankhar mainly flagged the issue of whether disruptions can be allowed and if members can have a "free fall of information" in the name of free speech in the House as envisaged in Article 105 of the Constitution. The article deals with freedom of speech in Parliament with certain conditions. The first phase of the Budget session was overshadowed by the Adani-Hindenburg isssue as the Opposition disrupted proceedings demanding a JPC probe. Dhankhar had been criticised by opposition parties over his decis

Oppn parties to attend meeting on Monday to discuss strategy for debates

Opposition parties will attend a joint meeting scheduled to be held at Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge's office, ahead of the second phase of the Budget Session which will resume

We will fulfill needs of women and middle class in our first Budget: Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said the state Budget, which is to be presented on Thursday, will fulfil the needs and aspirations of women and the middle class across the state."I can tell you that we will look to fulfil the needs and aspirations of women & the middle class." Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said."Tomorrow (Thursday) is our first Budget. We'll be fulfilling our promises tomorrow. Everyone is anticipating what the Budget will hold for them," he added.On the Budget, which will be the first to be presented by the Shiv Sena-BJP government since the change of guard in the state last year, Shinde said the government will keep its promises to the people.Speaking at an event at Mumbai's iconic Gateway of India on Wednesday, the CM also extended best wishes to women on International Women's Day. He said, "Today, we honoured women who work for the country in the cities and villages. Today is a day for our women, sisters and mothers."Shinde said the ...

Aggressive strategy to be adopted to corner Cong in Budget: Jai Ram Thakur

An aggressive strategy would be formulated to pin down the ruling Congress party during the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly budget session, leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur said on Thursday. Several important issues were discussed during a meeting of the BJP legislature party held here on Thursday, he said, adding the party would be in an aggressive mode in the budget session commencing March 14. The ongoing signature campaign of the BJP against the closing of health, education, revenue and other institutions opened during the previous BJP government was reviewed and discussions were also held in regard to organisational elections, Thakur said. Congress leaders are talking about the price rise but surprisingly it is the same Congress government that increased the VAT on diesel by Rs 3, he said.

Data Protection Bill gets IT panel thumbs-up, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

According to sources, the Bill will shortly get presented to the Cabinet and is ready to get tabled in Parliament during the ongoing Budget session

Punjab governor has summoned the house to call the budget session, SC told

The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that the Punjab Governor by an order has summoned the house for the budget session on March 3.

Budget session of Chhattisgarh Assembly to start from Wednesday

The budget session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly will begin from Wednesday and the budget for 2023-24 will be tabled on March 6, Speaker Charan Das Mahant said here on Tuesday. It would be the last budget session of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government before the state goes to polls at the end of 2023. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it would corner the government on several issues including the deteriorating law and order situation. The session will commence with Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan's address on Wednesday followed by the tabling of the motion of thanks on the Governor's address, Mahant said at a press conference. The debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor's address is proposed to be held on March 3, he said. Chief Minister Baghel, who also holds the finance portfolio, would present the budget on March 6, Mahant said. The session will have 14 sittings and conclude on March 24. As of Tuesday, 1,590 questions were received from the ...

SC to hear Punjab govt plea against guv's refusal to summon Budget session

The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Tuesday a plea of the Punjab government against the Governor's "refusal" to summon the Budget session scheduled for March 3. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said it will take up the Punjab government's plea at 3:50 pm after a five-judge Constitution bench hearing on the Maharashtra Shiv Sena political crisis. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the Punjab government, requested for urgent hearing of the plea on Tuesday itself. He added that Constitution bench hearing will not get affected if the matter is taken up for hearing for 10 minutes during the day. The bench told Singhvi, that he will be arguing before the constitution bench and therefore it will take up the plea for hearing at 3.50 pm. The tussle between the Punjab Governor and Chief Minister Mann had worsened last week with Purohit indicating he is in no hurry to summon the assembly's budget session, and reminding the CM about his "derogatory" resp

Parl panel seeks explanation from MPs for disruptions during Budget Session

A parliamentary panel on privilege notices has decided to seek an explanation from 13 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs, including a suspended member, for disrupting proceedings of the Upper House during the first leg of the budget session, sources said on Monday. A privilege notice against 12 of these MPs was referred to the committee by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. The Rajya Sabha's committee of privileges chaired by Deputy Chairman Harivansh unanimously decided on Monday to seek an explanation from 13 MPs, including nine from the Congress and three from the AAP, on the notices moved against them. Of these parliamentarians, Congress' Rajni Patil was suspended on February 10 for the remainder of the Budget Session for videographing the proceedings of the Upper House. The others from the party are Shaktisinh Gohil, Naranbhai J Rathwa, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kumar Ketkar, Imran Prattapgarhi, L Hanumanthaiah, Phulo Devi Netam, Jebi Mather Hisham and Ranjeet Ranjan. The AAP members ar

Shiv Sena feud to find echo in Budget session of Maharashtra legislature

The ongoing high decibel political and legal battle between rival Shiv Sena groups is all set to resonate loudly in the Maharashtra legislature when it begins its Budget session on February 27. The Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, buoyed by an Election Commission (EC) ruling in its favour, and the Uddhav Thackeray faction are locked in a bitter feud to lay claim over the 56-year-old party and legacy of its founder Bal Thackeray. Going by the legislative majority, the EC last week allotted the Shiv Sena name and the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to the Shinde group while recognising the split in the party, which was rocked by a rebellion in June last year. Moving swiftly after the EC ruling, the Shinde camp petitioned Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar and took control of the Shiv Sena legislature party office in the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai. Similarly, the Shinde camp feels the whip it issues will be binding on legislators still loyal to Thackeray. Amid the Sh

Over 1,100 participants attend post-Budget webinar on green growth

Over 1,100 participants on Thursday attended the post-budget webinar on green growth. The Power Ministry led the first post-budget webinar on Green Growth with discussions in six parallel sessions on 12 announcements made in the Union Budget 2023-24, an official statement said. Over 1,100 participants drawn from the industry, academia, PSUs, state governments and sector experts participated in the deliberations, which were aimed at seeking inputs for the finalisation of a time-bound action plan for the implementation of budget initiatives, it added. Addressing the stakeholders at the webinar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited global investors to invest in India, saying that the renewable energy sector in the country has the potential not less than a goldmine or an oil field. The first break-out session on Green Growth, led by Alok Kumar, Secretary, Power and co-led by BS Bhalla, Secretary, New and Renewable Energy, on Green Growth, focused on Energy Storage and Inter-State ...

Gujarat Budget for fiscal 2023-24 to be presented in Assembly on Feb 24

The Budget session of the Gujarat Assembly will begin from Thursday in Gandhinagar and the state Budget for FY 2023-24 will be presented on Friday as Opposition parties geared up to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over key issues such as leak of question papers of recruitment exams, inflation and unemployment. A detailed agenda of the Assembly during the more than three-week-long session was discussed at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on Wednesday, said an official release. This will be the first budget of the state after the BJP retained power with a thumping majority in the December 2022 Assembly polls and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel returned for a fresh term in office. The meeting of the BAC, which decides legislative business and other issues related to an Assembly session, was held under the chairmanship of Speaker Shankar Chaudhary and attended by MLAs of the ruling BJP, including Chief Minister Patel, and Opposition members. ...

Disruption of House proceedings not in interest of democracy: Adityanath

Disruption of House proceeding is neither in the interest of democracy nor for the state and the opposition should raise issues in a dignified way, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday. Adityanath made the remarks ahead of the start of the Budget session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. "There can be 'asahmati' (differences) between ruling and opposition parties. The ruling side cannot run away from answering issues of public interest. Disruption (of House) is neither in the interest of democracy nor the state," he told reporters in assembly premises. He said the opposition should raise issues with "shalinta" (in a dignified way) and use "Prabhavi shabdavali" (effective words) in the House. "The budget for 25 crore people of the state will be presented on February 22. If needed, after discussion with other party leaders, the House will also meet on Saturday also," he said. The government, he said, was ready for a discussion and will reply on all issues raised

Budget Session for UP to begin today, MoS Finance to table Budget on Feb 22

The Budget Session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly will begin on Monday.

Speaker seeks support for smooth functioning of House in UP budget session

In an all-party meeting ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Budget Session, Speaker Satish Mahana on Sunday sought the support of members in the smooth functioning of the House. The session will start on Monday with the Governor's address to the joint sitting of the legislative assembly and the legislative council. The speaker also requested all members to be present for the address and proceedings. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, members of the ruling BJP as well as opposition parties. Though Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav was not present, the party was represented by its chief whip in the assembly Manoj Kumar Pandey. In this first session of the year, discussion on Budget-2023, is going to be held according to parliamentary norms, the chief minister said. "The House is the place for meaningful discussions. All of us ran the House during the Covid period, which was appreciated in the country and

'New tradition' of allegations, counter-allegations in Parliament: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said a "new tradition" of levelling allegations and counter-allegations being observed in Parliament and state Assemblies these days is not proper for the country's constitutional democracy, and stressed the need for constructive debate and discussion in Houses to make democracy "lively and active". Inaugurating a two-day orientation programme for elected members of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly here, he also said that while criticism is a "shuddhi yagna" (purification ritual) in democracy, disrupting the Houses "in a planned manner" and causing disruption in speeches of governors are "not a good tradition". "Wherever required, one should criticise the government's policies, provide constructive suggestions. In democracy, criticism is a 'shuddhi yagna'. But the new tradition of aarop-pratyarop (allegations and counter-allegations) rather than criticism seen these days in these institutions is not proper for the constitutional democracy of th