The Centre has convened an all-party meeting on July 21 ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament which will start next Monday during which the full fledged annual Budget of the third term of the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government will be presented.
The traditional "halwa" ceremony, marking the final stage of the Budget preparation process for Union Budget 2024, was held in North Block on Tuesday, in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The customary ceremony begins with the Finance Minister stirring the "halwa" in the kadhai and then serving it to the colleagues in the Ministry. It is a tradition performed every year ahead of the Budget and it marks the final stage of preparing the plan for the upcoming financial year.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties under the INDIA Bloc too have convened a meeting of their Parliamentarians the same evening and another on July 22 morning ahead of the resumption of Parliament to discuss the strategy to raise the issues during the three-weeks-long Monsoon cum Budget session.
The meeting has been called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the Ministry said in a statement. This will be Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's first time at the customary session-eve meeting of the floor leaders from all parties if he attends it. Another large party in the Opposition ranks, Trinamool Congress, has regretted it won't attend the meet.
The Monsoon session is scheduled to begin on July 22 and will conclude on August 12. The Union Budget will be presented on July 23. Finance Minister Sitharaman will become the first Finance Minister in India's history to deliver seven consecutive Budgets. She will surpass the record previously held by Morarji Desai, who presented six consecutive Budgets between 1959 and 1963.
While P Chidambaram is in the second spot, having presented the Budget on nine occasions, but in breaks which includes first in 1997, during the United Front Government led by Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Former President Pranab Mukherjee presented eight Budgets during his time as Finance Minister.
The first Parliament session after the formation of the 18th Lok Sabha witnessed the opposition INDIA bloc raising issues like the recent NEET controversy, Manipur situation, and price rise among others, resulting in uproars and adjournments.
Protests were also witnessed in both Houses during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address. In the Lok Sabha, Opposition MPs raised slogans demanding a statement on Manipur during the Prime Minister's reply, while in the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition had staged a walkout.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) said no representatives from the party will attend the meeting as July 21 is observed by the party as "Martyrs' Day". TMC's Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien wrote to Rijiju and informed him that his party will not be able to attend the meet.
"For 30 years now, 21st July has been observed as 'Martyrs' Day' in Bengal in honour of our 13 colleagues who were unlawfully killed in a police firing on the day in 1993. In this context, all MPs of the All India Trinamool Congress including myself will be in our home State to mark the day along with other party colleagues. Therefore, no MP will be able to attend the meeting," he said.
