NEW DELHI: The Parliament's Budget Session 2026 will start on January 28 and conclude on April 2, instead of the customary February 1 commencement, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Friday.
The Budget session is expected to be stormy, with the Opposition set to target the government over issues such as US trade tariffs and alleged manipulation of electoral rolls, besides several other contentious matters.
The Union Budget is set to be tabled on February 1, which falls on a Sunday. Officials said the tentative schedule, finalised by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, provides for President Droupadi Murmu to address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on January 28.
The upcoming session is expected to witness a fresh showdown between the Treasury benches and the Opposition, with neither side showing signs of relenting. The two sides are likely to clash over a slew of proposed legislations, including the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill and a proposal for removal of Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and other ministers facing serious criminal charges who remain in jail for over 30 days, if these Bills are taken up. Both are currently pending before parliamentary committees.
Another flashpoint could be the proposed higher education legislation--the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which is expected to be introduced after scrutiny by a Joint Committee. The Bill was referred to a joint committee of both Houses during the winter session following strong objections from the Opposition.
The Budget Session may also witness fierce protests by the Opposition bloc, especially from the Congress, against the VB-GRAM-G Act, 2025, along with demands for the restoration of provisions under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The Budget session also assumes significance as the Assembly elections to five states and union territories—Assam, West Bengal, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala—are due this year. The state polls are expected to be held between March and May.
“On the recommendation of the Govt of India, Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji has approved the summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session 2026. The Session will commence on 28 January 2026 and continue till 2 April 2026. The first phase concludes on 13 February 2026, with Parliament reassembling on 9 March 2026, a vital step towards meaningful debate and people-centric governance,” Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, posted on ‘X’.
The customary address of the President takes place on the first day of the first Parliament session of the year. According to officials, the two Houses will not meet on January 29 due to the Beating Retreat ceremony. Parliament will sit on January 30 when the Economic Survey is likely to be tabled.
On January 31, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will not meet. After discussions on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address and Union Budget, Parliament will adjourn for a near-month-long recess on February 13.
Parliament will reconvene on March 9, and the session will conclude on April 2. Usually, Parliament is adjourned on a Friday, but keeping in mind Good Friday on April 3 and the subsequent weekend, the session could conclude on April 2, officials said. The recess in the Budget session helps department-related standing committees to examine demands for grants of various Union ministries and departments.
The winter session of Parliament, one of the shortest in recent Parliament history, concluded on December 19. The 19-day-long stormy session saw the passage of crucial bills, including one to repeal the 20-year-old MGNREGA and another on opening up the civil nuclear sector for private participation.
While the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha functioned for a total of about 92 hours, their productivity stood at 121 per cent and 111 per cent respectively. The Lok Sabha also passed a bill to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to 100 per cent from the current 74 per cent. The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025, was also cleared by Parliament.