Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday defended his government’s decision to bring forward the presentation of the Union Budget by a month, in the middle of Assembly polls in five States, saying it would facilitate execution of development works by giving more time for allotment of funds and their spending.
He also pointed out that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had changed the time at which the presentation of the Budget starts from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m. to align it with the country’s clock.
Mr. Modi was meeting National Democratic Alliance partners on the first day of the Budget session, after discussions with the parliamentary executive committee of the BJP, which includes party president Amit Shah and general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya, senior Ministers and the party’s chief whips in both Houses of Parliament. “The Opposition has no other issue to raise against us except this [bringing forward the tabling of the Budget],” sources quoted Mr. Modi as saying.
The sources also said that the Prime Minister termed the President’s address to both Houses a “reflection of our work as a government” and asked allies to “unitedly take credit and take the word to the people”.
He emphasised that the decision to demonetise currency notes of ₹500 and ₹1,000 taken on November 8 had been a well-thought-out one and the people had welcomed it.
He spoke of the desirability of a quick rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
At the NDA meeting, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) expressed its support for demonetisation, while Shiv Sena leader Anandrao Adsul said the government should be more supportive of cooperative banks, sources said.
Maximum participation
The Prime Minister urged maximum participation from MPs of NDA partners and the BJP in Parliament, except those who needed to travel for campaigning in the Assembly polls in five States.
Padma awards
Earlier at the BJP’s parliamentary executive committee meet, Mr. Modi reiterated the change in the way Padma awardees were selected.
“ Pure desh ko Padma Shri mila hai, sirf Dilli ko nahin [the whole country has been covered in the Padma award selection, and not just favourites of Delhi],” he said.
He singled out the case of Dr. Yadav, a nonagenarian doctor in Indore, who has been offering free treatment to poor patients for nearly six decades, as one of examples of the change in the way Padma awards had been decided this year.
