Opposition questions timing of Union Budget

Opposition parties put on record their differences with the government on tabling the Union Budget on February 1, not just because of the coming Assembly polls in five States but also because economic data for the third quarter will not be factored into the document.

Rise above party lines: PM

At an all-party meet called by the government, Opposition leaders were united in questioning the timing of the Union Budget, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked for Parliament to rise above party lines and come forward for discussion on various issues.

“Parliament is a Mahapanchayat and I would request all parties to allow the House to run,” Mr. Modi is reported to have said, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar.

Trinamool Congress and NDA ally Shiv Sena kept away from the meet.

“Some parties could not attend not just due to the Assembly polls, but also local body polls in some States,” said Mr. Kumar explaining the absence of these parties.

Mr. Kumar added that three ordinances re-promulgated recently, including the Enemy Property Ordinance will be tabled in Parliament and Business Advisory Committees of both Houses will schedule discussions on them.

“The presentation of the Budget on February 1 is not just unseemly in view of the polls in five States but also that the economic data from the third quarter will not be factored in. The Budget exercise is therefore not scientific,” said CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

TMC to skip budget

The TMC released a statement saying that it would be absent from the presentation of the Budget as part of its protest against demonetisation.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party at the residence of West Bengal Chief Minister and party chairperson Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.