Congress warns Modi govt of protest if it presents full budget

The Congress party has questioned the legitimacy and mandate of Modi government’s decision to present interim budget on February 1, asking how it can present budget for 365 days.

While the Lok Sabha elections are due by May, the party warned of massive protests inside and outside Parliament if the BJP-led government tried to present a full-fledged budget instead of a vote on account saying it will violate Constitutional propriety and parliamentary norms.

Questioning the legitimacy of the Modi government's reported move, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari asked how can the government present a budget for 365 days when its tenure ends within 56 days of the beginning of the financial year 2019-20.

“If the NDA-BJP government presents a full budget, then it will be a flagrant violation of parliamentary conventions and norms followed over seven decades,” Tewari told the media in New Delhi, adding that “The Modi government has neither the electoral mandate nor electoral legitimacy to present its 6th full budget in 5 years.”

Pointing to the fact that the term of the present government ends on May 26, Tewari said: “From where does the government derive the locus to present budget for 365 days?”

“Seeking to hide the economic mismanagement in the last 5 years, it is resorting to complete violation of Constitutional propriety and parliamentary procedures and norms,”said Tewari, adding that the Congress will oppose it tooth and nail inside and outside Parliament.

Congress leader Anand Sharma also hit out the BJP government in a series of statements on Twitter.

“BJP government’s move to present a regular budget few months before the elections is against all norms, rules & established Parliamentary practices. The term of the Government is 5 years which ends in May 2019. The government presented 5 full budgets & can only present a vote on account,” he wrote, adding that “For a budget for 12 months, the govt must have the tenure left. A tenure of 3 months and a budget for 1 year is bizarre & unprecedented. Not to forget that the budget is followed by Finance bill that must be adopted in 75 days.”

“The intent is questionable. After having made false promises and failed to deliver, this is a desperate attempt to make grandiose announcements and hoodwink the people in utter disregard of constitution and Parliamentary practices,” he remarked.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was on Wednesday given charge of Finance Ministry in the absence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is in the US for medical treatment, apparently ruling out his recuperation in time for the interim budget to be presented on February 1.