Bihar budget session to start today, Speaker appeals for cooperation

The Budget session will commence with the address of governor Phagu Chouhan to the joint session of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Bihar Legislative Council at the central hall of the extended building of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha

The Budget session of the Bihar legislature starting Friday is likely to be stormy despite the Legislative Assembly’s Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha’s appeal at the all-party meeting for cooperation to ensure meaningful debates and discussions.

Police personnel gathered during a mock drill in preparation for the Budget Session at Bihar Assembly in Patna, Bihar. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The Budget session will commence with the address of governor Phagu Chouhan to the joint session of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Bihar Legislative Council at the central hall of the extended building of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha.

On February 22, deputy chief minister Tar Kishore Prasad, who is also the finance minister, will table the Budget for the first time.

“In a democracy, people are supreme and send us to the House to serve them. For this, all the parties need to have a positive and constructive approach and allow the House to run smoothly... The question hour should not be disrupted,” said the Speaker, to which all the leaders agreed.

Those present at the all-party meeting included deputy chief minister Tar Kishore Prasad, parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, minister Shravan Kumar, leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Ajeet Sharma of the Congress, Satyadev Ram of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) or CPI(ML), Raj Kumar Singh of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) , Akhtarul Imam of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and others.

The ongoing war of words between the leaders of the ruling dispensation and the Opposition has, however, clearly pointed towards the things to come during the session.

“The session’s duration has been increased on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s demand. It is the second Budget session during the pandemic. The government had said an all-party panel will be formed to examine the allegations of discrepancies in testing, but that did not happen. No action has been taken on serious allegations against testing. Law and order is another big issue,” said Tejashwi Yadav soon after his return from Delhi.

Congress MLC Premchandra Mishra said the party would, as always, like the House to run smoothly, but it cannot stop raising uncomfortable questions of public importance. “In a democracy, we will play the role of a constructive Opposition. If law and order has gone completely out of control, the government will have the answer,” he said.

CPI(ML) leader Mehboob Alam said the government schemes for the poor were on paper only and this would be raised on the floor of the House.

Janata Dal (United) spokesman Neeraj Kumar said the development the state has made over the last 15 years was there for all to see. “The road map for the next five years is also being implemented. A glimpse of that will be visible in the governor’s address. The government will answer all the questions of the Opposition,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Nikhil Anand said the best things would be for the Opposition to take interest in the legislative business. “The government will answer all their questions, but we hope the Opposition will play a constructive role and refrain from misleading the people,” he said.