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oi-Madhuri Adnal
New Delhi, Jan 29: The crucial Budget session of Parliament is set for a stormy start with as many as 18 opposition parties announcing their decision to boycott the President’s address to a joint sitting of both houses on Friday, in solidarity with the farmers agitating against the three contentious farm laws.
The session is also likely to witness acrimonious scenes, with the opposition all set to corner the government on issues like recession, job losses, handling of COVID crisis, LAC stand-off with China and the WhatsApp chat leaks of Arnab Goswami.
The session will begin with the President’s address followed by the presentation of the Economic Survey. The Union Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.
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Private Members’ business, which usually takes place on Friday afternoons, will also be part of the Budget session, according to the Lok Sabha secretariat.
The Question Hour, which could not take place during the Monsoon session, has also made a comeback in this session. The Monsoon session also saw the two Houses working on Saturdays and Sundays. But this time, Parliament will not sit on weekends.
This is also the first time when the members of both the Houses will be seated in three different locations – chambers of both houses and the Central Hall.
This session will be held as per COVID-19 protocols, with Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha meeting in shifts of five hours each — with the upper house meeting from 9 AM to 2 PM and the lower house in the evening from 3 PM to 8 PM.
n ordinance has to be converted into a law within 42 days of the beginning of the session, else it lapses. The ordinances issued recently include The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020, The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
In the previous session, the Private Members’ business was not taken up. During the session, the government will also push to convert ordinances issued recently into laws.
Shocked by this insensitivity of the government, the opposition political parties, reaffirming the collective demand for the repeal of the anti-farmer laws and in solidarity with the Indian farmers, have decided to boycott the President’s address to both the houses of Parliament…,” a joint statement issued by 16 parties said on Thursday.
The Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party also separately announced their decision of boycotting the address. “The Prime Minister and the BJP government remain arrogant, adamant and undemocratic in their response.
The parties that will boycott the President’s address are –the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, National Conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Indian Union Muslim League, RSP, Peoples Democratic Party, MDMK, Kerala Congress (M) and the All India United Democratic Front.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi has appealed to all the parties to reconsider their decision to boycott, saying the President is above party politics. He also claimed that the BJP has never boycotted the President’s address when it was in the opposition, and said the issues raised by the opposition parties can be raised during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.
There are over 20 opposition parties in Parliament.
A total of 18 Opposition parties including the Congress, the NCP, Shiv Sena, DMK, Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPI-M and RJD and some other parties have announced that they would boycott the President’s address.
With the session starting barely days after the national capital witnessed unprecedented violence on Republic Day during the farmers’ tractor parade, the issue is expected to echo in Parliament.
Both the houses will also debate on the Motion of thanks to the President’s address after the budget presentation. The session will be held in two parts –January 29 to February 15 and March 8 to April 8 and will have a total of 33 sittings.
The session will begin with the President’s address followed by the presentation of the Economic Survey. The Union Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.
To seek the cooperation of various parties for the smooth functioning of the Budget session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has convened a meeting of all political parties on Friday which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Alleging that the farm laws have been pushed by the BJP government without a national consensus, the opposition parties announced their decision on Thursday to boycott the President’s address, a move termed as “most unfortunate” by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi.
A total of 16 Opposition parties have announced a boycott of the President’s address in solidarity with the farmers protesting the new farm laws, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said
The Budget session of Parliament beginning Friday is poised to be stormy with the Opposition set to attack the government over the three new farm legislations, amid an ongoing agitation by farmers
What is the Economic Survey?
The Economic Survey presents a detailed report on the performance or state of the economy during the previous year, future challenges and the way forward. It is typically presented a day before the Union Budget. While the Budget and Economic Survey are usually tabled a day apart, this year it might be different.
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