Election Commission to decide on Budget date in a week
The Opposition raised complaints about the advanced Budget date with the Election Commission.
The Election Commission will take a call on the date of the Union Budget presentation within the next week, according to Cogencis.
The Opposition had raised concerns and complained against the Centre's intention to present the Budget on February 1. They said the elections in five states were slated to start only three days after the Budget date which would give undue advantage to the government as it could announce pro-people measures that could influence voting behaviour.
Responding to the complaint, a government source said that the Centre had written to the Election Commission defending the Budget date. The source said the Centre would not announce poll-bound state specific Budget sops, according to Cogencis, adding that a change in the date would only upset the fiscal calender.
The government decided to advance the Budget to February 1 from this year, a move that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said would ensure the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the new fiscal year and funds are made available in time. This time, the Rail budget and Union budget would be presented in a single statement.