The Budget Session of Parliament will start on January 31 with an address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha followed by the presentation of the Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the next day.
It is not clear whether the Session will be held in the new building of Parliament, where workers are rushing to complete the works, though there was speculation earlier about convening it there.
The Budget Session will be held in two legs as usual to allow Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the Demands for Grants by various ministries during the recess between February 14 and March 12.
The first leg of the Session will be between January 31 and February 14 while the second leg will start on March 12 and end on April 6. The session is spread over 66 days during which there will be 27 sittings.
"Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to discussions on Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, Union Budget and other items," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted.
The session will be Murmu's first customary joint address to the Parliament during Budget Session.
The Session will start a day after Congress concludes its Kanyakumari to Kashmir 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', a walkathon led by its leader Rahul Gandhi. During the recess, Congress will also be holding its Plenary Session to ratify the election of Mallikarjun Kharge as Leader of the Opposition and elect a new Working Committee while February-March is also likely to see elections to Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya.
During the Session, the Opposition is likely to target the government over Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar’s “attack” on the basic structure principle of the Constitution, India-China clashes, price rise and unemployment.
It is to be seen whether the government attempts to bring a new bill to streamline appointments of judges in the higher judiciary by replacing the existing collegium system.
However, it will not be a smooth run for the Narendra Modi government if it moves ahead in this direction, as the Opposition, which had unanimously supported the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act earlier, is unlikely to support the new initiative in “changed circumstances”. The Opposition believes that the remarks by Dhankhar and Law Minister Kiren Rijiju were a precursor to such a move.
During the Winter Session, which was adjourned on December 23 last year, six days ahead of schedule, Lok Sabha passed seven Bills and Rajya Sabha cleared nine Bills though the government had indicated that it plans to bring 25 Bills, including 16 new ones.
None of the major Bills like the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill and The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which were on its tentative list, made it to Parliament during the Winter Session.