The Centre has called an all-party meeting on January 30 ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju informed on Tuesday.
He also appealed for the cooperation of Opposition leaders in holding smooth discussions in both the Houses of Parliament during the upcoming session.
Rijiju expressed hope that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would present a good and balanced budget.
On the upcoming Budget session of Parliament, Rijiju told a news agency, “On 31st January, the Budget session of Parliament will start. Before it, on 30th January, we have called an all-party meeting.”
“Everyone is hopeful that a good Budget will be presented. On 31st January, President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. On 1st February, the Union Budget will be presented,” he added.
Rijiju also referred to the previous winter session of Parliament.
“In the last two sessions, there was some ‘hungama’ in the Parliament which created a poor image of our Parliament. I want to appeal to Opposition leaders and other MPs to take part and hold discussions in Parliament during the session. If the Opposition allows the Parliament to run, then discussions can happen easily,” he added.
The President will address both Houses of Parliament on January 31 at 11 am in the Lok Sabha Chamber in the Parliament House ahead of the Budget Session.
According to the Parliamentary Bulletin, the Budget Session will be in two phases.
The first part of the Budget session of the Parliament will begin on January 31, with the Union Budget on February 1, and conclude on February 13.
Accordingly, the second part of the session will commence on March 10 and will conclude on April 4.
“Discussion on the President’s Address- Three days, viz, Monday, the 3rd February; Tuesday, the 4th February; and Thursday, the 6th February 2025 (Reply on February 6, 2025) have been provisionally allotted for discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address to be moved by a Member and seconded by another Member,” the bulletin read.