Parliament’s Budget Session had a smooth beginning last week, though it came in the middle of electioneering in five States. President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to members of the two Houses of Parliament sitting together; the Economic Survey presentation and the Budget set the tone for orderly proceedings in coming days.

The Rajya Sabha clocked 100 per cent productivity for the week. The two Houses noted the President’s address being a summary of the Government’s achievements, but the President maintained these were made possible by the sweat and labour of billion plus citizens of the country. This was in keeping with all his major speeches where he never failed to remember the common citizen and his contribution to national life.

The Budget raised interest for the massive hike it proposed in public expenditure to build on the economic recovery after the Covid setback. A surprise welcome was the brevity of the Budget Speech. In comparison to her long Budget Speeches earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech, read from a tablet, lasted just 90 minutes this time.

The Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to Parliament was the first subject of discussion, but members in both Houses could not stop themselves from referring to strengths and weaknesses of the Budget also. A common refrain during the discussions was that there was no mention of federalism in it, and to the sacrifices made by farmers in their year-long agitation against the controversial farm laws.

While the Treasury Benches spoke animatedly about the Government’s achievements in every field, particularly referring to development in the once-neglected North East, the Opposition elaborated on the widening economic inequalities, made worse by the lack of jobs.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke in the Lok Sabha that India was today divided between the rich and the poor, as economic management of the Government had sent crores of people below the poverty line again, and the nation’s wealth was getting concentrated in the hands of a few.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, referring to the current Assembly elections in five States, said speeches by Geeta alias Chandraprabha in moving the Motion of Thanks and by Shwait Malik in seconding the motion on behalf of the BJP, were like election speeches. He said the President’s Address was neither a policy document nor a vision statement. It was just a summary of the Government’s work in the last seven years.

Criticism came even from Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members who earlier stood by the Government on several difficult occasions, and now charged the Centre did not listen to pleas made by States. This was in spite of the fact that the Budget had proposed to raise allocation for the 50-year interest free loans to the States for capital expenditure from the last year’s Rs 15,000 crores to Rs 1 lakh crore.

Former senior bureaucrat Jawhar Sircar (Trinamool Congress), in his maiden speech, attacked the Government’s new rules on IAS postings and said these officers were running away from Central postings as they were reluctant to serve the Central Government. While referring to the farmers’ issues, the Opposition never failed to mention that the Government’s promise on doubling of farmers’ income was yet to come true.

Blaming the Covid deaths on the inadequacy of health infrastructure, the Opposition demanded compensation to families of the deceased. Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party) could not stop himself from referring to the State Assembly elections and said the BJP leaders were lowering the level of debate. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya (CPI-M) said Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, whose statue was planned to be installed in Delhi, had instructed that 50 per cent of posts should be given to Muslims, when he was leader of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

Defending the Government, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said India had a strong Prime Minister today. Several prominent leaders of the freedom struggle ignored by Congress Governments were given their due recognition, he said. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he hardly spoke in Parliament.

The Government’s response to the debates on the Motion of Thanks in the two Houses will come next week. The Rajya Sabha had a significant ruling by Deputy Chairman Harivansh that if the introduction of a Bill is opposed on the ground of legislative competence of the House, the House decides the same, and not the Chair.