Kolkata: The tussle between the West Bengal government and the Raj Bhavan is expected to end during the upcoming Budget session of the Assembly, scheduled next month.
The state has already sent an invitation to the office of Governor C. V. Ananda Bose, requesting the latter to deliver the opening speech of the Budget session on February 10.
Last year, the Assembly’s Budget session was held without the Governor’s speech.
Uncertainties had been looming over the opening speech of the Governor this time too, since the Winter Session of the House in the closing quarters of 2024 was just adjourned sine die. If the upcoming Budget session was shown as resuming the adjourned session, technically, the Governor’s opening speech could have been avoided.
However, state secretariat insiders said, the state government has ended uncertainties by already sending the invitation to the office of the Governor.
However, it is not yet clear whether the office of the Governor will give a positive reply to the invitation or not.
While the opening speech of the Governor is scheduled to be on February 10, the minister of state in charge of the Finance Department (Independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya is scheduled to present the Budget proposals for the financial year 2025-26 on the floor of the house on February 12.
Considering that this will be the last full- Budget before the state Assembly elections in 2026, there is a possibility of enhancement in allocation under different welfare and dole schemes offered by the state government, especially for those which are women and youth-specific besides a hike in the dearness allowance for the state government employees.
Bhattacharya will be presenting the state budget next month amid the recently released ‘Fiscal Health Index: 2025’, report from NITI Aayog, which has revealed the poor show of West Bengal in revenue mobilisation, expenditure quality and debt index.
Of the 18 states reviewed, West Bengal ranked 16th in the report.
(IANS)
