Context
The suspense over the timing of the Union Budget for 2017-18 finally ended with the Election Commission and the Supreme Court scotching calls, in the light of upcoming elections for five State Assemblies, to defer the February 1 date proposed by the Centre
Issue:
- Advancing of Union budget to Feb 1st: A detailed analysis of the issue has already been done here
- Simultaneous elections: A detailed overview of the issue has been presented here
What has happened?
In the light of upcoming assembly polls in 5 states, opposition had demanded EC & SC that the presentation of Union Budget should be deferred but both SC & EC have given green light to the government to go forward with the tabling of annual financial statement in the parliament.
- Caution: The Election Commission’s nod for a February 1 Budget comes with the caveat that it must not announce schemes aimed at poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa, or even expound on any achievements of development programmes in these States.
