The Rajya Sabha session was adjourned until 1 p.m. on Monday after the opposition MPs started chanting slogans against the country’s high fuel prices.
The second half of the Budget session begins on Monday. However, because of the forthcoming Assembly elections, the session, which was originally scheduled to end on April 8, could be shortened, as leaders from different parties have asked to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Naidu.
The first leg of the Budget Session began on January 29 and ended on February 13, two days ahead of time. On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the Union Budget.
The President’s speech to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on January 29 kicked off the first part of the Budget session. More than 20 opposition groups, including the Congress, boycotted the speech in favor of the protesting farmers’ call for the abolition of the three farm laws.
After the first week, with the movement set to pick up steam in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry in the coming days, attendance is expected to be small. Even so, there are indications that the session, which is scheduled to end on April 8, will end a few days sooner.
The month-long second leg of the Budget session started today, amidst the high-voltage run-up to State assembly polls in four states and a Union Territory. Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O Brien, representatives of the Trinamool Congress in both houses of parliament, sent letters to the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman, respectively, requesting that the session be adjourned due to the upcoming Assembly elections.
The government’s priority in the second half of the session is to pass various grant requests for the fiscal year 2021-22, as well as the Finance Bill, which contains various tax proposals. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, Electricity (Amendment) Bill, Crypto currency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill are among the bills mentioned by the government.
