Haryana Assembly's Budget session to begin on February 20

The main opposition Congress has 30 MLAs while the Indian National Lok Dal has one.

The Budget session of the Haryana Assembly will begin on Tuesday with the opposition set to take on the BJP-JJP government on a host of issues.

The session — the year’s first — will begin with the governor’s address. Later, there will be a general discussion in the House on the address. The Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly met here in the evening and it was decided that the session will be held between February 20 and 28. A meeting of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party was also held here in the evening after which Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda targeted the Manohar Lal Khattar government, accusing it of having failed on all fronts.

He said the Congress would bring a no-confidence motion during the session. Chief Minister Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, will present the state’s budget on Friday. With assembly polls due later this year, Khattar — who will present the last budget of his second term — said on Monday that the state government’s budget will reflect glimpses of "Antyodaya and public welfare".

Asked about the demands raised by protesting farmers camping at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab’s border with Haryana, Khattar told reporters in Panchkula that any problem can be resolved through dialogue and consensus. In response to another question, the Haryana chief minister said the BJP will achieve the target of winning more than 370 seats and that the NDA will cross 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He also said that BJP will sweep all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. Previously, Khattar had told reporters that the focus of the budget would be on welfare for all sections of society with healthcare, education, rural development and the environment in focus. Meanwhile, the opposition Congress is gearing up to take on the BJP-JJP alliance on a host of issues during the budget session.

Hooda said his party would raise the farmers’ protest issue in the House and asserted that the government should accept their demands and resolve the matter. Dubbing the BJP-JJP dispensation as a "non-performing", the former chief minister also said the Congress would raise several other issues, including alleged scams and "mounting debt" under their rule.

Party leaders said the Congress will also highlight issues such as rising unemployment in the state, "irregularities" in skill employment corporation, giving priority to outsiders in Haryana’s recruitment, "deteriorating" law-and-order situation and recruitment "scams". About the Congress’s decision to bring a no-confidence motion in the Assembly, Khattar said when the opposition party brought a similar motion three years ago he had told the opposition that they must table such a motion during every session so that they could hear about the work done by his government.

The Congress’ motion of no confidence against the BJP-JJP government three years ago was defeated. If the Congress brings a no-confidence motion again, they will be compelled to hear about the works done by the government, Khattar added.

The BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House while its alliance partner the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) has 10. Six of the seven Independent members in the House support the BJP, which also enjoys the support of lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda. The main opposition Congress has 30 MLAs while the Indian National Lok Dal has one.