New Delhi: The Budget Session of Parliament is likely to begin on February 23 as the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, headed by Union home minister Rajnath Singh, will meet here on February 4 to finalise the broad schedule.
According to sources, the main focus of the session will be the transaction of the General and Railway Budgets, but the government is also keen on the passage of a number of key reform measures, including the contentious GST and Real Estate Bills.
The Budget Session usually begins in the third week of February and concludes early May. There is a recess in between when the budgetary demands for grants are discussed in the committees.
The General Budget is expected to be presented in the Lok Sabha on February 29, the last day of February, as is the practice traditionally.
Against the backdrop of the near washout of the previous sessions, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday hoped that the Congress would see reason and help pass the GST legislation, which is stuck in the Rajya Sabha, during the coming session.
“It (GST) is the important reform of the UPA. If I had to credit the authorship of it, I have to give credit to them. Now, If the author turns against his own script, what do I make (of it)?
“I have reached out and I have spoken to them. I have explained to them and I hope they will see reason and see the rationale behind passing GST,” the finance minister said at a public function here.
Usually, the budget session begins in the third week of February and concludes early May. There is a recess in between when the budgetary demands for grants are discussed in the committees
General Budget
The General Budget is expected to be presented on Feb 29, as is the practice traditionally
Polls galore
Meanwhile the process for the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, where the tenure of the Assemblies is set to end in May-June, will begin in the midst of the session and that could raise questions about the number of sittings
A curtailment may be necessary to accommodate campaign by leaders during the elections
