The Budget Session of Parliament is likely to begin on February 23 with the Railway Budget to be presented on February 25, a day earlier than what has been the convention over the years. The Union Budget, however, will be presented as per convention on the last day of February, 29th (2016 being a leap year). In between, the Economic Survey will be released on February 26 since there will be a weekend Parliament break.

Sources said that Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) will meet on February 4 to finalise the dates of the Session during which the government is keen to pass the GST Bill.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday expressed the hope that Congress will “see reason” and help in passage of GST legislation while Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the Government has “no problem” in discussing Arunachal Pradesh and Rohith Vemula issues in the Budget session and asked the Opposition to refrain from disrupting the House proceedings.

While the main focus of the session will be the transaction of the General and Railway budgets, the government is also keen to get passed a number of key reforms measures including the contentious GST and Real Estate Bills.

The process for the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam  and Puducherry, where the tenure of the Assemblies is set to end in May-June, will begin in the midst of the session and a curtailment may be necessary to enable campaigning by leaders during the elections.

Against the backdrop of a near washout of the previous sessions, Jaitley hoped that Congress will “see reason” and help in passage of GST legislation, which is stuck in the Rajya Sabha during the coming session. “It (GST) is the important reform of UPA. If I had to credit the authorship of it, I have to give credit to them. Now, If the author turns against his own script, what do I make... I have reached out (and) I have spoken to them. I have explained to them and I hope they will see reason... (and) see the rationale behind passing GST,” Jaitley said speaking at a public function in the national Capital. The Winter session had ended on December 23, leaving the GST Bill and a number of other measures in a limbo.

Naidu had earlier this month met Congress President Sonia Gandhi seeking cooperation for the early passage of the crucial GST and the Real Estate bills. “We have no problem.  Government is ready to discuss any and every issue. The Opposition should refrain from disrupting the proceedings,” Naidu said amidst indications that the Opposition might aggressively take up the issue of imposition of President’s Rule in Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh and the suicide of a Dalit student in Hyderabad University.

During the Winter Session the government’s legislative agenda had suffered a serious setback due to lack of support from the numerically stronger Congress-led opposition in the Rajya Sabha.  This had prompted the Finance Minister to raise the question of how an “unelected” house could overrule the mandate of the “elected” house.

The Rajya Sabha however passed nine bills but lost 47 hours due to disruptions caused almost every day by Congress which raised one issue after another. The lok Sabha performed a little better as it passed 13 bills and saw discussions over various issues like price rise, flood and drought situation, despite repeated uproar created by the opposition Congress over various issues.