Opposition Demands Union Budget Be Held After The Upcoming State Assembly Elections

Several opposition parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Janata Dal (United) and Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam met with officials of the Election Commission of India (EC) to postpone the upcoming Union Budget to after the assembly elections, scheduled for February-March, are over. Poll dates have been declared by the EC for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur over a period starting 4 February and ending 8 March.

The budget is scheduled to be held on 1 February. The opposition has claimed that by presenting the budget just before the elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party would announce programmes that would sway voters away from them. TMC’s Derek O’Brien claimed that the budget could be presented on 8 March instead and passed by 31 March, and that there was plenty of time to do that. The Congress claimed that it would be against democracy to present the budget prior to the polls and that it was clear the government will misuse the budget to lure voters.

The dates for polling were announced by the EC on 4 January 2017, while the date for the Union Budget was announced back in November 2016.