Vijayawada: The Budget Session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature begins on Monday with Governor Justice S Abdul Nazeer addressing the joint session of the Assembly and Council.The alliance government led by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu decided to present the state Budget on February 28.The opposition YSR Congress that boycotted the previous assembly sessions decided to attend the budget session on Monday.Naidu, ministers and TD MLAs will reach the assembly after garlanding the statue of TD founder NT Rama Rao at Venkatapalem on Monday morning.Assembly Speaker Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu held a meeting on Sunday with chief secretary K Vijayanand and DGP Harish Gupta to discuss preparations for the 47th Legislative Council session and the third session of the 16th Legislative Assembly.All members are required to be present in the Assembly by 9:30am for the Governor’s address on Monday. Speaker Patrudu said that it was decided not to issue passes for personal assistants (PAs) of MLAs and officials during the budget session.Visitors and delegates wishing to meet the chief minister will not be allowed inside the assembly premises. Instead, they are advised to arrange meetings at his office.The Speaker directed the officials to enforce stringent security protocol.The meeting was attended by deputy speaker Raghuramakrishna Raju, finance minister Payyavula Keshav and assembly secretary general Prasanna Suryadevara.There was no clarity yet as to whether YSRC Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy would attend the assembly session this time. Currently, YSRC MLAs have been abstaining from assembly meetings, while the party’s MLCs have continued participating in the council sessions. It is anticipated that the party may take part in the full session and challenge the coalition government regarding the unmet ‘Super Six’ promises and other election pledges.Sources said the YSRC members would raise the issue of the government not giving recognition to Jagan Reddy as leader of the opposition.The duration of the session will be confirmed during a meeting of the business advisory committee chaired by the speaker after the governor’s address. The house is expected to meet for at least 15 working days or three weeks.The TD-led state government is anticipated to present its first full budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year on February 28. Prior to this, a cabinet meeting under the leadership of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu will convene to approve the budget.
Source link
