Shimla, March 9 An all-party meeting was held on Sunday on the eve of the Budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu promising to unveil a blueprint for improving the hill state’s infrastructure and education sectors.
The Budget 2025-26 is scheduled to be presented on March 17 by CM Sukhu, his third in a row. As per the schedule issued by the Assembly secretariat, the Budget is likely to be passed on March 26, following two days of discussion.
Speaker Kuldeep Pathania, while addressing media persons ahead of the session, said it wouldn’t be possible to conduct the 16-day session smoothly without the cooperation of legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties.
The all-party meeting called by the Speaker on Sunday decided to extend the session by three days but a final call on the matter is expected to be taken on Monday. The meeting was attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshvardhan Chouhan and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, among others.
A total of 963 questions have been filed by legislators for the session that is likely to end on March 28 – unless extended by three days on the popular demand of legislators.
Hours before the start of the session on Monday, CM Sukhu is likely to chair the Congress legislature party meeting to formulate the floor strategy. In contrast, the BJP legislators met at a private hotel in Shimla on Sunday under the leadership of Jai Ram Thakur.
CM Sukhu’s special focus on the education sector is linked to his repeated criticism of the previous BJP government for ignoring the needs of students.
He has also highlighted his government’s policies due to which the Annual Status of Education Report found the reading level of Himachal children to be the best in the country.
Earlier in the week, PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh voiced the state’s demand that the Centre should provide special financial assistance for projects related to urban infrastructure and digital governance.
Setting the tone for the opposition BJP’s strategy for the session, state unit chief Rajeev Bindal hit out at the Sukhu government for using funds of temple trusts, acquired by the state government in the past, for budgetary schemes.
He said in a statement that the spirit “behind this acquisition is clear that the offerings of the temples should be used in the development of temples, maintenance, facilities for the pilgrims and the development of the pilgrimage sites”.
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