Union, Railway budgets only after elections: SY Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner

NEW DELHI: The Union and railway budgets will have to wait for the completion of the coming round of state elections. Sources in the government said the presentation of the two budgets will be made only after March 3 - the last day of elections.

The general budget is generally presented on the last day of February every year while the railway budget precedes that by two days.

On his part, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi said there was a precedent of the budget being deferred by a few days in view of elections. "I think in 1976-77 the budget was delayed. It (elections) came in the middle of March," he said.

The elections in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa - will begin on January 28 and go on till March 3. Counting of the votes will be done on March 4. However, the model code of conduct, which comes into force immediately after announcement of the poll dates, would remain in place till March 9. The code seeks to prevent governments from doling out sops to the electorate. This could mean that the budget presentation may even be deferred to after March 9.

Elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur will be completed by January 30, the seven-phased UP polls will end on February 28 and Goa will go to polls on March 3. This being a leap year, the union budget presentation was expected to take place on February 29.

Former Election Commissioner GVG Krishnamurthy said that there was no need for the government to defer budget presentation in view of the announcement of the election schedule for the five states. He said the Model Code of Conduct applied to the states that go to polls and not not for the Centre.

"Every normal national activity must go on. The Union Budget is a national activity and elections cannot hinder it (its presentation). Presentation of budget is a national function not a function of political parties," Krishnamurthy said.

The government had accepted the advise of the Election Commission then headed by TN Seshan in the mid-1990s to defer the presentation in view of the Tamil Nadu polls.