The Narendra Modi-led government is planning to present the budget on 1 February. Assembly elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur from 4 February to 8 March.
Opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United), met the Election Commission to argue the case for postponing the budget, which, according to them, will give the government an unfair advantage ahead of the Assembly elections. The parties are demanding that the budget be presented after the election results on 11 March.
Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap said the Election Commission does not have the power to stop the government from tabling the budget. “Though the Commission is looking into the representation made by Opposition parties, I don’t think it will be able to stop the government from tabling the budget as per schedule. In my view, the budget will definitely come, on time,” he said. According to a former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the government is well within its right to present the budget. “This budget is for the entire country, whereas elections are taking place in five states only. The government took a decision to advance the budget much before the elections were announced. Therefore, I don’t think the EC will stop the government from tabling it,” he added.
Sources said that there has been no precedent of the Election Commission stepping in to announce any change in the date of the Union Budget. According to a BJP source, every year, some election or the other keeps on taking place, but that should not affect the presentation of the Budget, which is meant for the entire country. He said, even in 2014, the Budget was presented before the elections.
A long time ago, the government decided to advance the date of the General Budget to make sure that the proposals took effect from 1 April. The first part of the Budget session of Parliament will start on 31 January. The Cabinet had also decided to merge the Railway Budget with the annual budget.
CEC Nasim Zaidi told media persons that the Commission was looking into the representation made by some political parties.