Amid the Covid 19 pandemic, the second leg of the Budget session of Parliament commenced today as Rajya Sabha reconvened at 9 am. The lower house, Lok Sabha session will begin at 4 pm and will continue till 10 pm. The sessions are being held in shifts to maintain the social distancing norms.
While the country has been witnessing high voltage for Assembly elections in four states and a Union Territory Congress cornered the Centre over the hike in fuel prices on the first day of the second leg of Budget Session 2021.
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The government made it clear that it was ready for discussions on any subject but asserted that the priority would be the passage of various demands for grants for 2021-22 and the Finance Bill which carries several tax proposals.
The Opposition benches, however, will be severely whittled down since the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pudducherry. Many TMC, DMK and Left MPs will be skipping the majority of the session.
The government has informally approached the opposition seeking to curtail the session within two weeks owing to the campaign for the assembly elections.
The main focus of the government in the second part of the session is to get various demands of grants for the financial year 2021-22 passed along with the Finance Bill which carries various tax proposals. Besides these mandatory agendas, the government has listed various bills for passage in the session.
Some of the bills listed by the government include the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, Electricity (Amendment) Bill, and Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill. Part two of the session is taking place at a time when political parties have their focus on elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry.