Union Budget 2017 will not have any impact on the state Assembly elections, Union Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said on Friday. “The budget can be presented during the state elections,” he said. Notably, the opposition parties had yesterday moved the Election Commission objecting to the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1, ahead of the Assembly elections in five states and demanded that the government be asked to defer the annual exercise till March 8, the last day of voting. Punjab and Goa will go for polls on February 4 and the last phase of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur will be held on March 8.

Earlier today, the SC refused an urgent hearing on a plea seeking postponement of presentation of Union Budget due to assembly elections in five states. “There is no urgency in it. We will lay down the law when this petition comes up,” a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said. Advocate M L Sharma, who filed the PIL on the issue, mentioned it and sought an urgent hearing. The PIL has also sought a direction to strip BJP of its lotus election symbol for alleged violation of the model code of conduct which came into effect after declaration of assembly polls in five states.

ALSO READ: Budget 2017: FM Arun Jaitley to target fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP in FY18, says BofA-ML

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) on Tuesday recommended holding of the Budget Session from January 31 when the government is likely to table the Economy Survey followed by the Union Budget on February 1. But opposition parties have complained that this will give the government an unfair advantage because the budget will include populist scheme and reforms that could influence voters. This, they allege, will violate the model code of conduct that kicks in as soon as elections are announced and forbid parties in power from taking or sharing decisions that could skew voters towards them.

You may also like to watch:

Gangwar was speaking to media on the sidelines of the latest 70th batch of IRS induction training programme at National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT) here. He was the chief guest of the inaugural ceremony.

(With inputs from PTI)