Eight opposition parties including Congress, JD(U), and TMC today met the Election Commission and demanded that the budget should be presented after 8th of March which is the last day of voting in states going to polls.
Talking to media in New Delhi, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, budget carries populist measures, therefore free and fair elections cannot be ensured if the budget is presented on the proposed date. Mr Azad said that opposition parties told the Election Commission that Budget can be used by BJP to influence voters in poll-bound states.
Earlier, opposition parties had written to President Pranab Mukherjee to postpone the presentation of budget on 1st of February claiming that it will influence the assembly polls in five states including Uttar Pradesh.