Vidhan Sabha session begins today; Budget on March 17

The Opposition is gearing up to corner the Nayab Singh Saini government on paper leaks, growing unemployment, collapsing law and order and rampant mining during the budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, which begins tomorrow. The Budget will be presented on March 17.

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The session will begin with the Governor's Address, and is likely to continue till March 28. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) here today.

The BAC recommendations will be presented in the House tomorrow for approval.

A general discussion on the Governor's Address will be held from March 10. The budget estimates for 2025-26 will be presented on March 17 by the CM, who also holds the finance portfolio.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress leader and former Leader of Opposition, said, “The issues, including paper leaks in the board exams, as also the MBBS scam and the falling standards of education, unemployment, reckless mining and plight of farmers are on our agenda. The government should give us answers for failing the public and explain how so many paper leaks are happening in its regime,” he said.

A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, attended by party MLAs, was held during the day. The Congress has, even five months after the Assembly elections, failed to announce a Leader of Opposition, though party leaders maintained that the announcement could come “anytime”.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) said the party would prominently raise various issues related to public interest during the session.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda said the government, with the interest of the public at heart, would keep its manifesto promises. “The Budget will reflect our commitment to public welfare and people from all walks of life will be benefited. The Opposition is weak and has nothing to say and its leaders drop the ball after raising an issue. They prefer to walk out each time the Chief Minister gives his reply. Our strategy is simply to ensure they hear out the government instead of shooting and scooting,” Dhanda stated.

Meanwhile, during the session, the government will bring in the state song for the approval of the House, while the issue of a new building for the Vidhan Sabha will be taken up for discussion.

Earlier in the day, an all-party meeting under the chairmanship of Speaker Harvinder Kalyan endorsed the demand for a separate Vidhan Sabha building for Haryana. Legislators at the meeting contended that a separate spacious building was required for Haryana as it would have more MLAs after the delimitation exercise.

“On the lines of the practice in the Parliament, we held an all-party meeting for the first time and discussed various issues, including the smooth running of the House,” the Speaker said.