Parliament's Budget Session resumes under shadow of Assembly polls

The second part of Parliament’s budget session begins on Monday with key opposition leaders busy campaigning in the elections to four states and a union territory.

Key opposition players such as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, his deputy Gaurav Gogoi, Trinamool Congress leaders will be busy campaigning in West Bengal and Assam.

Elections to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are scheduled for March-April, campaigning for which is heating up every passing day.

Congress’ parliamentary team comprises leaders from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, including K Suresh, Manickam Tagore, Jothimani who are at the forefront of raising issues in the Lok Sabha.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi chaired a strategy meeting of the parliamentary party on the eve of the resumption of the Budget Session and gave directions to ensure that issues concerning the common man were raised in both the Houses of Parliament.

“We have given adjournment notices in both the Houses of Parliament on the issue of increase in the prices of petroleum products and plan to raise the issue aggressively on the first two days,” Kodikunnil Suresh, chief whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, told DH.

He said the opposition has not demanded curtailment of the Budget Session on account of assembly elections and neither has he heard of any such plans from the government. The Budget Session is scheduled to continue till April 8.

The main focus of the government in the second part of the session is to get the various demands for grants for the year 2021-22 passed along with the Finance Bill which carries various tax proposals.

Besides the Finance Bill, the government has listed various bills such as the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, Electricity (Amendment) Bill, Crypto currency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill for the Budget Session which will continue till April 8.

The first part of the Budget session started on January 29 with the President's address to joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.