LS poll notification after vote-on-account on Feb 9

New Delhi : It is now official, the notification for the Lok Sabha elections would be announced anytime after February 9.

The Government has decided to hold a brief Budget session of Parliament between January 31 and February 9. President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the two houses on January 31., they said. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would present a vote-on-account budget' for financial year 2024-25 on February 1. The 17th Lok Sabha session will end on June 16. This will be the last session of Parliament before the general elections. In 2019, the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 and voting was held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19.

Sources said that keeping the elections in view, the government may announce double the amount for PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for women farmers. If it decides so, it would cost the government about Rs 12,000 crore additional amount.

Since it would be an interim budget there will not be a detailed Economic Survey which is the normal practice which explains the status of Indian economy and what the future could be. Instead, the government would present a short report on the economic situation of the country. Meanwhile, the finance ministry has sought expenditure proposals for the second and final batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants from various ministries and departments.