Boycott storm in Budget Session Of Parliament: Govt makes appeal; Economic Survey awaited

The Budget session of Parliament is set for a stormy start with as many as 19 opposition parties announcing their decision to boycott the President's address to a joint sitting of both houses on Friday, in solidarity with the farmers agitating against the three farm laws, among other stated reasons.

Describing the opposition parties' move as the "most unfortunate", Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday urged them to reconsider their decision. Talking to reporters, he said the issues cited by the opposition parties for boycotting the President's address can be raised during the debate on the motion of thanks. He said the President was above party politics and the BJP as an opposition party never boycotted the President's address.

Lok Sabha Speaker calls all-party meet 

Meanwhile, to seek the cooperation of various parties for the smooth functioning of the Budget session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has convened a meeting of all political parties on Friday which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, news agency PTI reported. 

The session will begin with the President's address followed by the tabling of the Economic Survey. The Economic Survey, which is presented by the Finance Minister on the opening day of the budget session, provides a summary of the annual economic development across the country during the financial year.

Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian will address a press conference at 2.30 pm on the presentation of Economic Survey 2020-21. Both the houses will also debate on the Motion of thanks to the President's address after the budget presentation. The session will be held in two parts --January 29 to February 15 and March 8 to April 8 and will have a total of 33 sittings.

READ | BJP rebuts Oppn's call to boycott President's address, lists Congress' hypocritical stance

The parties that will boycott the President's address are --the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), National Conference (NC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD), Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), RSP, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), MDMK, Kerala Congress (M), and the All India United Democratic Front. 

READ | 'Focus on areas that have not received full support': BJP on upcoming Union Budget

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also separately announced their decision of boycotting the address.

It is after almost five months that the Parliament will be convened, as the Winter session could not be held due to the COVID pandemic. With a view to having a paperless Budget, all the documents and the Economic Survey would be made available online soon after the authenticated copies are laid on the Table of the House, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has said.

READ | Radical SFJ announces reward over Red Fort flag incident; eyes Budget-day Parliament siege

This session will be held as per COVID-19 protocols, with Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha meeting in shifts of five hours each -- with the upper house meeting from 9 AM to 2 PM and the lower house in the evening from 3 PM to 8 PM. This is also the first time when the members of both the Houses will be seated in three different locations - chambers of both houses and the Central Hall.

The Question Hour, which could not take place during the Monsoon session, has also made a comeback in this session. The Monsoon session also saw the two Houses working on Saturdays and Sundays. But this time, Parliament will not sit on weekends.

READ | 'Most unfortunate': Pralhad Joshi slams Opposition's call to boycott President's address