Budget Session of Parliament commences; FM Sitharaman to table General Budget 2020-21 on Feb 1

New Delhi: The budget session of Parliament will commence on Friday (January 31). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2019-20 in the house. The Budget will be presented in the Lok Sabha on Saturday. 

President Kovind will deliver a speech in the Central Hall of Parliament at 11 am. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will also chair a meeting of floor leaders of Rajya Sabha at his residence today. The first phase of the session will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and end on April 3. 

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Ahead of the budget session, an all-party meeting was convened by the central government on Thursday. Prime Minister Modi, senior ministers, Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress and Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC, besides representatives of other parties, attended the meeting.

The Prime Minister said that the government was open for discussion on all issues during the Budget Session of Parliament and agreed with the demand of MPs that there should be a discussion on economic issues. In his remarks at the all-party meeting on the eve of the Budget Session, he welcomed suggestions of most members that the session should focus on the prevailing economic situation in the country.

"Most of the members have asked for discussion on the economic situation concerning the country. I welcome this and we need to discuss the economic issues as suggested by you all," the PM said while urging members to see how the country can gain from the prevailing global economic scenario.

The Bharatiya Janata Party Executive Committee meeting is scheduled to take place in Parliament Library at 2 pm, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting is also expected in Parliament Library at 3:30 pm today.

Notably, the budget session comes amid nationwide protests against the government's citizenship measures, including the amended citizenship law, with opposition parties putting up a united front against the Narendra Modi government.