Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: The month-long budget session of the Gujarat Assembly will begin on March 2, marking the first budget of the new BJP team led by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. It will be the BJP government’s last budget for the state, which is set to vote in December this year.
Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai will present the budget on Thursday, an official communication from the state Assembly stated. This is the first budget of CM Patel, Finance Minister Desai, who was appointed after the resignation of CM Vijay Rupani in September last year, as well as the first one for Rathwa as the leader of opposition. The three have no previous experience for the same post.
This will be Sukram Rathwa’s first term as leader of the Opposition. Congress will try to grill the government on issues such as Par-Tapi-Narmada link project, compensation to family members of patients who died due to Covid-19.
The assembly will begin with the Governor’s address. The state budget will be presented the next day, March 3. The 22-day session is expected to approve higher grants for the department of education, health, social justice and empowerment, and the department of agriculture.
The budget will be debated for four days. This will be followed by a three-day discussion on the Governor’s address and a two-day discussion on the supplementary demands of various wings. The Organic Agriculture University Reform Bill and the Gujarat Land Acquisition Prevention Amendment Bill will be introduced. The session ends on March 31.
