Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will boycott the customary address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of both Houses in Parliament on Tuesday, calling her speech "a bundle of false promises and false claims by the Narendra Modi Government." Taking to Twitter, AAP MLA Sanjay Singh on Tuesday said that the party is boycotting Murmu's address because her speech is a "bundle of false promises" and "false claims" by the Narendra Modi-Government.
"Hon'ble President's speech is a bundle of false promises and false claims by the Modi Government. In this, there is not a word of her own. Modi government has proved to be a failure on every front, so Aam Aadmi Party will boycott the President's address," Singh said.
The party's MPs will stay out of the Parliament House at the time of the address. There is a total of 10 MPs of the party in the Parliament.
The President addresses members of both Houses in the Parliament's Central Hall on the first day of a session. It will be the maiden address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The party will present its side by holding a press conference at Vijay Chowk at 12 noon, the AAP leader added.
BRS also chose to skip the President's address
In the latest instance of its continued face-off with the central government, ahead of the crucial Telangana Assembly elections later this year, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) also has decided to boycott the customary address by the President.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the pre-Budget document in the Parliament, half an hour after the President's address.
Congress party leaders to skip session too
The Congress party leaders will have to skip the President's address session in Parliament as they are stuck in Kashmir due to bad weather conditions. However, party's senior leader Sonia Gandhi will be attending the session.
Pre-budget session scheduled after President's address
The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, will give insights into the state of the economy and various indicators in the current financial year 2022-23 (April-March) and outlook for the next year.
The session will have 27 sittings and will continue till April 6 with a month-long recess to examine the budget papers.
The session will take place in two parts with the first part concluding on February 13. The second part will be held from March 13 and will conclude on April 6.
The government held an all-party meeting on Monday in which the opposition parties raised issues of their concern.
The first part of the session would also see a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President Address. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the debate in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The government will also push its legislative agenda in the budget session.
26 bills pending in Rajya Sabha, 9 in Lok Sabha
According to government records, 26 Bills are currently pending in the Rajya Sabha and nine in the Lok Sabha.
Amongst the 26 Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha, three Bills have already been passed by Lok Sabha including the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022.
The bills which haven't been referred to any parliamentary scrutiny and are pending for passage include the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Repeal) Bill, 2012, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Third) Bill, 2013, the Delhi Rent (Repeal) Bill, 2013, and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
However, the session is expected to be stormy with the opposition parties raring to corner it on a range of issues including those related to Adani stocks and BBC documentary and the government stating that it is willing to discuss all the issues permitted by the Chair.
