New Delhi: The Delhi cabinet on Thursday decided to hold the budget session between March 16 and 28. The decision was taken during a meeting attended by CM Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.
The budget will be delivered by Deputy CM Manish Sisodia who also holds the finance portfolio. Sisodia will also present the Economic Survey in the Assembly, followed by the Outcome Budget. The first day of the budget session will also be attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal who will address the Assembly at 11am. What is perhaps more interesting than the budget-related announcements, however, is that Thursday's meeting was attended by both Kejriwal and Prakash - a first since their midnight spat when Prakash accused AAP officials of assaulting him.
Clearly then, the Budget Session itself is expected to be a fiery affair and with the ongoing sealing drive in the city, AAP spokesperson has said his party will bring up the matter in the session as well. This could possibly further add fuel to the political fire.
It is important to note that last year, the Delhi government had presented a Rs 48,000-crore tax-free budget for Delhi with a special focus on education, transport, health and water distribution. At the time, Sisodia had said that due to the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), no new taxes were added. It would be interesting to see if the state government continues with the same line of thought in its fourth budget presentation.
