Assembly session to be stormy Budget session of Legislature from today

The Budget session of the Telangana Legislature will begin from Thursday. It is the first budget session of the Congress government, which took over in December last year.
Contentious issues concerning irrigation projects could rock the Assembly sessions in view of the fast approaching Lok Sabha elections, though the present session is meant
for introduction of the Budget. The ruling party as well as the opposition parties will try to utilise the business sessions of the House to attract the attention of people in view of the upcoming General Election.
The ruling party has declared that it will release a White Paper on irrigation projects during the budget session.
The main opposition party, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, will try to grab eye balls by raising issues relating to the handing over of components of various projects to the Centre.
The government is expected to announce the modalities for implementing two more of its six-guarantee poll plank: gas cylinder at Rs.500 and free power up to 200 units that are expected to be launched soon.
The BRS is claiming that the Congress government has ineptly handed over various projects to the Centre. However, the government has been reiterating that it has not handed over the projects per se to the Centre.
The Chief Minister and the Irrigation Minister have been arguing that former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has raised certain issues only to divert people’s attention
from the stigma of graft surrounding the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. This being the bone of contention, arguments and counters between the ruling and opposition parties are expected to make the House sessions tumultuous.
As for Budget proposals, the Congress government is likely to seek a Vote-on-Account — instead of presenting a full budget — in view of the lack of clarity on devolutions from the Centre.
The session will start with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s joint address to both the Houses assembled together. This would be followed by a discussion on the motion of thanks for the Governor’s address on Friday.
Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will seek a Vote-in-Account on February 10th. This will be followed by a discussion on the related proposals.
The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) will determine the number of days for which the House will hold sessions after the Governor’s address on Thursday.