The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on Friday with an address by President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of two Houses of Parliament.
President Kovind will deliver a speech in the Central Hall of Parliament at 11 am. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will also chair a meeting of floor leaders of Rajya Sabha at his residence today.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey 2019-20 and will present her second Union Budget on Saturday.
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The first phase of the session will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and end on April 3.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Executive Committee meeting will be held in Parliament Library at 2 pm, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting is expected in Parliament Library at 3:30 pm today.
An all-party meeting called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi was held on Thursday in Parliament ahead of the Budget Session. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the meeting along with other Union Ministers, namely, Rajnath Singh, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Arjun Meghwal, V Muraleedharan, and others.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav was also present in the meet. BJD’s Prasanna Acharya, NCP MP Supriya Sule, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, RJD leader Manoj Jha, and many other MPs were present in the meeting.
The Prime Minister said that the government was open for discussion on all issues during the Budget Session of Parliament and agreed with the demand of MPs that there should be a discussion on economic issues.
In his remarks at the all-party meeting on the eve of the Budget Session, he welcomed suggestions of most members that the session should focus on the prevailing economic situation in the country.
“Most of the members have asked for discussion on the economic situation concerning the country. I welcome this and we need to discuss the economic issues as suggested by you all,” he said.
Modi urged members to see how the country can gain from the prevailing global economic scenario.
“We should focus on how we can turn the global scenario in favour of India. And in this Budget Session, and in the beginning of the New Year if we can give a proper direction to the country’s economy, it would be in the best interest of the country,” he said.
The Prime Minister also agreed with members on other important issues raised by them and said there should be an open discussion on all such issues.
“I agree with you all on the other important issues raised by you. And I would like to say that there should be an open discussion on all such issues,” he said.
(With ANI inputs)