NEW DELHI: A day after the announcement of poll schedule, Opposition parties on Thursday approached the election commission with a plea that the Budget, set to be announced just three days before the polls start, must be rescheduled.
The Congress, Trinamool, Samajwadi party, BSP, Janata Dal (United) and RJD met the EC to argue the case for deferring the budget which, they said, would give the government an unfair advantage ahead of the state elections.
Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said there can be no concession to any political party and this is against the constitution and the ideal of democracy. “We said that to ensure fair elections, the budget must be deferred to after the election results on March 11."
Congress leader Anand Sharma said the presentation of the budget prior to the polls will vitiate the free and fair polls. "It is the mandate of the EC to ensure that no situation arises that may vitiate the free and fair polls. We have already informed President Pranab Mukherjee about the issue," he added.
The ruling BJP termed it a non-issue and slammed the opposition for politicising the government's constitutional duty.
"The budget is a constitutional duty of the government and not related to any one state. The presentation of the budget is not a sudden decision rather it has been decided beforehand with prior information to the stakeholders," Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
"The simple solution is to present the budget after March 8 and get it passed before March 31. We are optimistic," said Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, who had tweeted about the meeting this morning, saying the budget date is "too close to the polls".
Elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur from February 4 to March 8. Opposition parties say the government can sway voters with announcements in the budget.
In 2012, when the same states were up for election, the budget, usually shared on the last working day in February, was moved to mid-March after voting was completed. But this was a decision taken by the Congress-led UPA government.
The government decided to advance the date of the general budget to ensure proposals take effect from April 1. The first part of the budget session of parliament will start on January 31. The cabinet decided last September to merge the railway budget with the annual budget, ending a nearly century-long practice.