Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi
announcing the dates for polling on Friday
announcing the dates for polling on Friday
New Delhi:
The announcement of the Assembly election schedule in five states between January 30 and March 3 has raised the possibility of the Union Budget being presented slightly late this year.
The Budget, which is presented on the last day of February every year, may be slightly deferred beyond March 4, when the counting of votes in the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will be completed.
Asked about the possibility of the Budget being postponed, Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said the Election Commission has to take into account many factors when fixing dates for the polls. "But there is a precedent, I think, in 1976-77 when the Budget was delayed. It (elections) came in the middle of March," he said.
However, former Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurthy is of the view that there is no need for the government to defer the presentation of the Budget in view of the announcement of the election schedule for the five states.
He said the Model Code of Conduct applied to states that go to polls and not for the Centre.
"Every normal national activity must go on. The Union Budget is a national activity and elections cannot hinder (its presentation). Presentation of the Budget is a national function not a function of political parties," Krishnamurthy said.
"This is stretching the Code too much," he said when asked if the Model Code would come in the way of presentation of the General Budget and the Railway Budget in Parliament.
Observers recall an instance of the Central Budget presentation being slightly delayed when the government accepted the advice of the Election Commission, then headed by T N Seshan in the mid-1990s, to defer the presentation.
But since then there has been no postponement of the Budget presentation.
The Budget, which is presented on the last day of February every year, may be slightly deferred beyond March 4, when the counting of votes in the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will be completed.
Asked about the possibility of the Budget being postponed, Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said the Election Commission has to take into account many factors when fixing dates for the polls. "But there is a precedent, I think, in 1976-77 when the Budget was delayed. It (elections) came in the middle of March," he said.
However, former Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurthy is of the view that there is no need for the government to defer the presentation of the Budget in view of the announcement of the election schedule for the five states.
He said the Model Code of Conduct applied to states that go to polls and not for the Centre.
"Every normal national activity must go on. The Union Budget is a national activity and elections cannot hinder (its presentation). Presentation of the Budget is a national function not a function of political parties," Krishnamurthy said.
"This is stretching the Code too much," he said when asked if the Model Code would come in the way of presentation of the General Budget and the Railway Budget in Parliament.
Observers recall an instance of the Central Budget presentation being slightly delayed when the government accepted the advice of the Election Commission, then headed by T N Seshan in the mid-1990s, to defer the presentation.
But since then there has been no postponement of the Budget presentation.
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