Trinamool Congress not to attend Parliament on Budget day

Trinamool Congress, which is angry over the arrest of its two MPs by CBI in connection with the chitfund scam, will not attend Parliament on February 1 when the Budget is presented, citing Saraswati Puja on that day as the reason.

Trinamool will also not attend the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan this evening ahead of the Budget session of Parliament beginning tomorrow.

"Trinamool will not attend Parliament on February 1 because of Saraswati Puja which is a big day in Bengal," party leader and MP Derek O'Brien told PTI.

He said that on Saraswati Puja, day, there is a custom of keeping away from work and not even touching the tools.

"Saraswati Puja is beyond a religious festival. It is a socio-cultural festival of Bengal," he added.

Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday.

About not attending this evening's all-party meeting, he said this was because Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banshee had called a meeting of party MPs for today "10 days back".

Asked whether the party was "boycotting" these proceedings or just skipping, he replied, "It is open for your interpretation".

Trinamool Congress has been angry over the arrest of its two MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal by CBI in connection with the Rose Valley Group chit fund scam.