The Election Commission of India has asked the central government to respond on the opposition parties demand seeking postponement of Union Budget until the assembly elections in five states are over.
According to a report in Indian Express, the poll body has written a letter to Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha seeking the government’s stand on the matter.
The EC has given the government time till January 10 to respond, the report said, adding that that Commission wants to know the government’s views before taking a call on the matter.
The letter from EC comes just a day after a delegation of opposition parties led by the Congress met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and other officials demanding directions be passed to defer the fiscal exercise till after March 8.
The delegations that met the EC officials comprised representatives from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and DMK.
The parties are of the view that presentation of the Union Budget ahead of assembly elections in five states (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur) will give an unfair advantage to the ruling BJP and its allies.
Instead of usual February 28, the Budget this year is scheduled to be presented on February 1, only days before the assembly elections go underway in five states between February 4 and March 8.
The ruling BJP, however, has slammed the opposition saying ‘the Budget is a constitutional duty and not related to any one state’.
“The presentation of the Budget is not a sudden decision. The opposition parties have gone bankrupt on issues. That is why they are trying to create an issue out of a non-issue. The government has decided on February 1 for Budget presentation and irrespective of what the opposition says, it will be presented," Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
The opposition has also sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention on the issue. They had submitted a memorandum to the President, requesting presentation of the Union Budget be deferred.
