FM briefs BJP lawmakers on Budget, prior to party’s outreach programme

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Parliament on Friday to brief Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Union Budget 2023-24, which was presented in Parliament earlier this week. All of the party’s Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs are expected to attend the meeting, which is being held ahead of today’s Parliament session. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Kiren Rijiju, Dharmendra Pradhan, V Muraleedharan, and BJP MPs Sukanta Majumdar and Sushil Modi were seen arriving for the meeting, according to images from Parliament.

The Budget, which will almost certainly be the last for the BJP-led NDA government before the general elections next year, was presented by Sitharaman on Wednesday, unveiling one of the largest increases in capital spending in a decade, with the Union Minister stating that the fiscal deficit will fall next year.

This was Sitharaman’s fifth budget presentation. During her nearly one-and-a-half-hour speech, the Finance Minister announced that the government intends to increase capital expenditure outlay by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, representing 3.3% of GDP.

The Parliament’s Budget Session opened on Tuesday with the President’s address, which was followed by the postponement of the Economic Survey for 2022-23. On October 10, last year, the formal process of preparing the yearly Budget for 2023-24 began.

According to insiders, the BJP plans to launch a mega-budget Reach Out campaign across India on February 4 and 5 to highlight what the budget represents for each and every individual, regardless of age, caste, race, or occupation.

During the programme, all Union ministers will travel across the country for this budget and hold a news conference on the budget, in addition to connecting with individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds, including renowned citizens and intellectuals.