Congress may attend Budget sitting, against big decisions

NEW DELHI: Congress is likely to participate in the presentation of Budget with the leadership arguing that the government’s claims about its achievements in the President’s joint address have made rebuttal an imperative. However, the party continued to insist that there should be no major policy announcements in the Budget.

At a discussion, Congress president Rahul Gandhi sought the views of his MPs on Budget, significant in the wake of party’s stance that Modi government cannot announce a full budget since it has already presented five during its tenure. It had earlier threatened a protest.

While the Centre has said that it would be an interim budget, Congress appeared to keep up the pressure. MPs told TOI there was no clarity on the nature of the Budget to be presented. They said while there would be no objection to a vote on account, the party contingent could protest if there were major policy announcements in the finance minister’s speech.

At the discussion called by Rahul after the President’s address, members said that the government had made false claims in the joint address which needed to be rebutted. They said an effective response can be given in the discussion.

Attacking the government over the President’s address, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said: “The final President’s address of this government should have been a report card of their achievements, instead it is a summary of lame excuses for non-performance and unrealistic promises.”