Budget Session To Begin From Tomorrow: Farmers’ MSP Demand, Pegasus, Other Issues Likely To Be Raised In Parliament

The Budget Session of Parliament is set to begin from Monday where issues including farmers' demand for MSP and Pegasus row are likely to be raised by Opposition members.

New Delhi: The Budget Session of Parliament is set to begin from Monday and it will start with the President’s Address as per tradition being the first session of the year. While all eyes are Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who will present the Union Budget on Tuesday (February 1), the Budget Session is also likely to see a focus on issues including farmers’ demand for MSP and Pegasus row.

With the Assembly elections in five states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, around the corner, and under such a scenario, the government, as well as the Opposition parties, would try to deliver their messages to the voters. Under such circumstances, there is a huge possibility of an uproar in both the Houses – Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The government and the Opposition have been in continuous confrontation and due to this Parliament could not function smoothly during the past several proceedings.

Farmers’ MSP demand

The farmers’ organisations are again gearing up to raise their demand for the MSP before the government and this issue would also be raised during the session by the opposition. On Saturday, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that the fight to get a law on Minimum Support Price for farmers’ produce will continue.

“The families of farmers have lost more than 700 of their loved ones in the movement. Farmers will never forget these days of last year,” Tikait said in a tweet (roughly translated from Hindi).

“MSP is the backbone of farmers and farmers want MSP guarantee law to save the future of farming! The fight continues, the fight will continue,” Tikait said.

On November 19 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will bring necessary bills in the Winter Session of Parliament to repeal the farm laws. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill on the first day of the winter session. President Ram Nath Kovind has also given his assent to the Bill that completes the process of repealing the three farm laws. PM Modi had also said that the government will constitute a committee to work on a new framework for Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Pegasus row

The impact of the disclosures related to the Pegasus made by a New York Times ahead of the Budget Session Parliament session is also expected to rock Parliament. The Opposition parties indicated that they would raise the issue strongly in the Budget Session of Parliament starting Monday, even as Union minister Gen (retd) V K Singh called The New York Times “Supari Media”.

A government source said the matter related to the Pegasus software was being monitored by a committee under the Supreme Court — headed by retired Supreme Court judge R V Raveendran — and its report was awaited. Reacting to NYT’s report, Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation, said on Twitter: “Can you trust NYT?? They are known “Supari Media”.”

Budget Session | Key Points

• On the first day, at 11 am President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament. The proceedings of the Lok Sabha will begin after half an hour of the President’s address, while the Rajya Sabha proceedings will begin at 2.30 pm. The Economic Survey for the year 2021-2022 will be presented in both the Houses of Parliament on Monday.
• On the second day, on February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 a.m. The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha will begin one hour after the Budget speech of the Finance Minister in the Lok Sabha. She will also present the Budget in the Rajya Sabha.
• From February 2, under the COVID protocol, the proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will run in two shifts.
• It has been decided that the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha will take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. After this, the proceedings of the Lok Sabha will start at 4 p.m., which will continue till 9 p.m.
• The two-shift proceeding arrangements have been made only for the first phase of the Budget Session, i.e., till February 11.
• The session, this time, will take place in two phases. The first phase will start from January 31 and end on February 11 while the second phase will start from March 14 and will continue till April 8.
• Both — the government as well as the opposition — have made their preparations for this ‘crucial’ session.
• It will be the government’s endeavour that the proceedings of both the Houses be conducted smoothly so that the motion of thanks on the President’s address can be discussed in detail and the government can inform the citizens, especially the voters of the poll-bound states, about its achievements through the House.
• It is likely that the Prime Minister’s speech can take place twice, i.e., separately in both the Houses.
• On the other hand, the opposition has a plethora of issues, with the help of which they will try to corner the government.
• With recent disclosures on Pegasus, the opposition is all set to again raise the issue in both the Houses of Parliament.

The productivity of work in Lok Sabha during the last winter session was only 82 per cent. While the Rajya Sabha’s record in terms of business was even worse and was only 48 per cent.