The last session before Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year was started with the address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of two Houses on January 31. It was earlier to be concluded on February 9. While announcing the extension in the Lower House, Speaker Om Birla said, "Honorable Members, Honorable Minister of Parliamentary Affairs has proposed that the 15th session of the 17th Lok Sabha be extended till Saturday, 10 February 2024 to dispose of the necessary government business."
In Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar also extended the session for one day. The decision comes amid buzz over the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government presenting a 'white paper' on the economy during the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The government had announced in the Union Interim Budget presented on February 1 that it will come out with 'White Paper' to compare the economic performance of 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government with that of 10 years of the BJP-led NDA government. Tabling the Interim Budget 2024-25 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Modi government, which assumed office in 2014, overcame crisis of those years and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path.
"In 2014 when our Government assumed the reins, the responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. The government did that successfully following our strong belief of 'nation-first'," she said. "The crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development."
She announced that the Government will lay a White Paper on the table of the House "to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years". "The exemplary track record of governance, development and performance, effective delivery, and 'Jan Kalyan' has given the government trust, confidence and blessings of the people to realize, whatever it takes, the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' with good intentions, true dedication and hard work in the coming years and decades," she said.