The Congress alleged on Thursday that the Centre is planning to present a full-fledged Budget violating all Parliamentary conventions, procedures and traditions. It maintained that the Narendra Modi government neither has the “electoral mandate” nor the “electoral legitimacy” to present six full Budgets in five years.

Talking to reporters, former minister and senior Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said such a move would be “contentious and portentous” with Constitutional ramifications. He cited reports that the BJP is about to announce a number of schemes for the social and agriculture sectors in the Budget with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections.

“The NDA-BJP government has already presented five full-fledged Budgets and it does not have the mandate or the legitimacy to present a sixth budget. The financial year 2019-20 will commence on the 1st April 2019, and it continues till the 31st March 2020. The tenure of this government comes to an end on the 26th of May 2019. A new government will have to assume office before the 26 May 2019. So, how does a government, which is going to be in office for a mere 56 days, have the legitimacy, leave alone the mandate, to present a budget for 365 days,” Tewari asked.

“If the NDA-BJP government, which has rightly earned the title of being an institution slayer, was to throw all Parliamentary conventions and traditions to the winds, cognizant of the fact that they have completely destroyed the Indian economy over the past 55 months with demonetisation, a badly implemented GST, no job creation, can commit this travesty in other institution, the temple of Indian democracy. The Parliament of India will stand completely undermined,” Tewari charged.

He demanded that the Centre follow Constitutional propriety and present a vote-on-account on the February 1. “If present a full-fledged budget, it would be strongly opposed both on the floor of the House and outside,” Tewari said. The budget session is from January 31 to February 13.

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