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State budget for 2021-22 to be placed in West Bengal assembly today
State parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee is likely to place the budget in the assembly, in case of Amit Mitra’s absence due to health issues
The state budget for 2021-22 will be placed before the West Bengal legislative assembly on Wednesday.
In February this year, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had read out the state’s financial statement and vote-on-account in the assembly instead of finance minister Amit Mitra, who could not attend the session due to health issues.
State parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee is likely to place the budget in the assembly, in case of Mitra’s absence.
Banerjee had showered sops and made a series of announcements while presenting the state’s vote-on-account in February as assembly elections were drawing closer.
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The list included generating 15 million new employment opportunities, hiking farmer’s aid, free ration, providing cooked food from common kitchens for the poor ,and pension for senior citizens and widows, among others.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) returned to power for the third consecutive time in May with a huge mandate, winning 213 out of the 292 assembly seats where elections were held. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could manage 77 seats.
The budget session started from July 2 and has been a stormy one since then. It will continue till July 8.
On the first day itself, BJP leaders had created a ruckus in the assembly, forcing governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to cut his inaugural address short. On Tuesday, the assembly passed a resolution supporting an ad hoc committee report that favoured the creation of a legislative council amid opposition by the BJP.
Speaking on the resolution, Chatterjee said that achievers and noted personalities of the society from various walks of life will have a representation, and also people from various strata of the society will get accommodated in the decision making process.
Leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, while opposing the resolution, said that the purpose of the resolution was to pursue “backdoor politics” to help TMC party leaders get elected as lawmakers despite having lost the assembly polls.
