UP Elections 2017: Akhilesh Yadav has requested PM Modi to delay the budget till elections are over
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that the government does not need to move the union budget from February 1 to after elections are held in states like Uttar Pradesh, as demanded by some parties. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly today, stating that if the budget is shared before his state starts voting on February 11, Uttar Pradesh will be deprived of schemes that could help India's most populous state. The powerful Election Commission has ordered that the budget cannot include any announcements that could influence voters in the five states that begin voting just days after February 1.
Voting begins on February 4 in Punjab and Goa. It will be held in seven stages across Uttar Pradesh from February 11 and will wrap up in Uttarakhand and Manipur. Results of all states will be shared on March 11.
The first part of the budget session of parliament will start on January 30 when the government is expected to present the Economic Survey, which sets the scene for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's fourth annual budget.
Mr Jaitley has said that the budget cannot be delayed on account of state elections. The cabinet decided last September to merge the railway budget with the annual budget, ending a nearly century-long practice. It also decided to advance the date of the general budget, usually the last working day in February, to ensure proposals take effect from April 1.
Advocate ML Sharma had, in a Public Interest Litigation, asked the top court to move the budget to after the election, alleging that the centre could try to influence the outcome with giveaways and populist schemes. The Election Commission has strict rules to prevent the centre or state governments to offer such giveaways.
In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav has allied with the Congress to counter the PM's party, the BJP, and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP has not revealed a Chief Ministerial candidate; it is the PM who is leading the campaign in an election that's seen as vital to his chances of winning another term in 2019.
When he won his record victory in 2014, the BJP won a blockbuster 72 of 80 parliamentary seats. Next month's election decides 403 members of the state legislature.
Here is the copy of Akhilesh Yadav's letter to PM Modi: