Five months after coming to power with a decisive mandate, the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is set to introduce the first budget on November 11th. As per latest reports, the assembly sessions will kick off in Amaravati on the same day with budget set to tabled by the state finance minister Payyavula Keshav on the first day of the sessions itself.
Though the full budget was supposed to be tabled in the State Legislative Assembly before July 31 after the formation of new dispensation, so that the government could incur expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State from August 1, 2024, the TDP-led NDA government opted for an vote-on-account to arrive at a detailed estimate of the state finances.
In the vote-on-account budget, no specific allocations are made to any particular sector. The amount allocated was meant to meet the immediate needs for these four months. Now, the full budget is expected to earmark specific allocations for all sectors.
The MLAs of NDA government along with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will attend the sessions to discuss about the policies and the functioning of the new regime in the last four months. Assembly speaker Chintakayala Ayyannapatrudu will chair the sessions.
It remains to be seen whether YSR Congress party MLAs including president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will attend these sessions or not. The 11 MLAs attended the sessions only on the first day of the assembly to take oath after the new government came to power. They boycotted the house on July 22nd as a protest to governor Abdul Nazeer’s speech.
Jagan Mohan Reddy filed a petition in the high court of Andhra Pradesh seeking Leader of Opposition status for him despite not winning 10% seats out of 175. As the court posted the hearing to a later date, he will be treated as a normal MLA like others if he attends the sessions. So, there is very little chance for Jagan and his party MLAs to take part in the discussion on various issues of the state during these sessions.
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