Advance budget session a ploy to influence Punjab, UP polls, claims Oppn

A total of 16 opposition parties including the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal-United have written to President Pranab Mukherjee against the government...

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday decided that the budget session of the Parliament should begin on January 31. The Opposition parties are not amused with the government's decision to advance the budget session and have appealed to the President of India and the Election Commission to reverse the same. The opposition parties in one voice have called this an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to influence voters in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where assembly elections are to be held.

A total of 16 opposition parties including the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal-United have written to President Pranab Mukherjee against the government's move to advance the budget session by weeks. "As we see it, this is a short-term political move done with an eye on UP and Punjab elections so that the BJP government can announce enough sops while bypassing the model code of conduct," said Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M on his social media page.

We think that an 'early' Annual Budget is a bad idea, and it is being advanced for petty political reasons. https://t.co/msTB2wvV88 pic.twitter.com/97zubGzOvD

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) January 4, 2017

Meanwhile, questions were also raised on budget session being held when five states will go to polls. Former Aam Aadmi Party member and current national president of Swaraj India, Yogendra Yadav took to twitter to ask if election commission was favouring the BJP. In a series of tweets he drew comparisons of previous instances where budget sessions were held after polls and asked if the EC had revised the position it had taken for last 20 years.

Will Union Budget be presented just 3 days before Punjab, Goa polls? Fair?
Has EC revised the position it has taken for last two decades? https://t.co/bhgYAEuyK3

— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) January 4, 2017

The CCPA decided to hold the budget session earlier than usual and asked for the Economic survey to be tabled on the first day of the session. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to present the budget on February 1 as against the norm of it being presented in the last week of February.

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