VIJAYAWADA: The Budget Session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature will commence on March 14. A notification to this effect was issued by Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Friday. The Joint Session of the AP Legislative Assembly and Council will commence at 10 am on March 14 and the Governor will address the members of both the Houses.
According to the sources, Motion of Condolences will be introduced on March 15. Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath would table the Budget for 2023 - 24 likely on March 15 or 16.It is learnt that the session would likely continue for 13 working days. However, a final decision on the agenda and number of working days will be decided after deliberations in the Business Advisory Committee meeting.
Sources say that though Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reiterated that the capital will be shifting to Visakhapatnam and he will be locating to the port city soon, the government is unlikely to table the bill of decentralisation of administration and development to set up three capitals as the issue was pending in the Supreme Court and the hearing scheduled to be held on March 28. However, a decision on the issue may be taken depending on the outcome of the verdict as the Session is expected to be held till the end of March, the sources said.
The sources further informed that as it being the last full fledged budget for the YSRC government as the elections will be held more or less in a year, more budgetary allocations may be given to the welfare schemes.
Meanwhile, the State Cabinet would meet on March 14 and would discuss on the Bills to be introduced in the Assembly. The upcoming Budget session is the last one for TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh whose term as MLC would expire on March 28. Lokesh, however, is unlikely to attend the session as he is on a 4,000-km long Yuva Galam padayatra. Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu has chose to stick to his word for attending Assembly until he becomes the CM.