The last Budget Session of the 16th State Assembly commencing here from Friday is likely to be stormy as the State Government is all set to present a “please all” budget ahead of the assembly elections in 2017 while the opposition parties are also determined to nail the government to draw political mileage in the last important session of the present assembly.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who also holds the finance portfolio will present the annual budget for 2016-17 financial year. This will be his last budget of the present term as chief minister. This will be the fifth consecutive budget to be presented by the chief minister in the state assembly. As per the agenda of the house approved by the business advisory committee of the assembly the session will last till March 11. The government is also likely to seek supplementary grants for the current fiscal 2015-16.
The session is likely to be stormy as the opposition will corner the government on the plight of the farmers following the drought affecting the previous Kharif and the present Rabi crops. The opposition is also likely to target the government for its refusal to hike the State Advisory Price for the sugarcane for the third consecutive year and also the nonpayment of the cane arrears to the farmers by the sugar mills. The law and order issue is also likely to be raised as it has been raised in all previous session of this assembly.
The other issue that may trouble the government is the drought and famine like conditions in perched region of Bundelkhand. The Congress is upbeat after the recent visit by Rahul Gandhi to Mahoba and a follow up visit by the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to Hamirpur in the region. The Congress leaders in the assembly Pradeep Mathur said the party will forcefully raise this issue in the house during the budget session.
The BJP leader in the assembly Suresh Khanna said anarchy prevails in the state as the law and order has collapsed. The Center had extended a drought relief of Rs 1,302 crore to UP, by but the state government failed to distribute the money to the affected farmers. The BJP leader said during the Governor’s address the party will abide by the guidelines for the protocol issued by the President’s secretariat. He said the BJP apprehends that the state government will not follow the guidelines for protocol and the party mebers of the assembly and council will lodge the complaint with the President Prnab Mukherjee. Samajwadi party spokesman and the political pensions minister Rajendra Chowdhary said the opposition has no issue target the government which has served the interests of all the sections of the society and fulfilled all promises it had made during the last state assembly elections in 2012. “The government will have very positive attitude towards the issues of public issues if raised by the opposition parties but the if they oppose the government only for the sake of opposition then the treasury benches were prepared to face the criticism and counter the propaganda by the opposition’’, said Rajendra Chowdhary.
Meanwhile the state Governor Ram Naik has written to the leaders of all parties in assembly and legislative council to maintain calm in the house during his joint address to the state legislature. The Governor urged the leaders of different opposition parties to extend their cooperation in maintaining the dignity of the house and help in house to transact the business. For the opposition it has become an established tradition for the opposition parties to disrupt the joint address to the house by the state Governor. The Governor in such situation usually reads the first and last line of the address and leaves the house.