Budget 2012: Budget Session from tomorrow, portends tough time for government

NEW DELHI: The Budget session of Parliament beginning tomorrow portends a tough time for the government against the backdrop of reverses the Congress suffered at the Assembly elections and the possibility of issues like federalism bringing unlikely forces together.

The Congress heading the UPA may not be in a position to take even the allies for granted with a key coalition constituent Trinamool making it clear it was against a cut in fertiliser subsidy and rise in petroleum prices. Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee has also joined non-Congress chief ministers in opposing the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre(NCTC).

With Congress under pressure in the wake of its debacle in the Assembly polls, Opposition leaders have hinted that the session would see floor coordination between allies of Congress, its supporting parties and the opposition on the issue of federalism.

Budget 2012 at ET: Budget 2012 | Union Budget | Rail Budget 2012 | Budget News

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi face an unenviable task in the three-month long session which will commence with President Pratibha Patil's customary address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. This will be Patil's last such address as she retires in July.

The Union Budget 2012-13 will be presented on March 16, four days after Parliament begins its Budget session.

While the Rail Budget will be presented on March 14, the Economic Survey outlining Government's assessment of the economy will be tabled on March 15.

The remarks of Trinamool Congress leader and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on the possibility of mid-term polls are also expected to find its echo during the Budget session. Trivedi has since said his party has no intentions to rock the UPA boat.