Bhopal: The Budget Session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly commenced today with the customary address by Governor Mangubhai C. Patel and will have 13 sittings till March 25th, an official said.  The State’s budget for 2022-23 will be presented on Wednesday, he added. Vidhan Sabha Speaker Girish Gautam on Sunday held an all-party meeting, which was attended by the leader of Opposition Kamal Nath, Minister for Home and Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra and others. “A consensus has been reached during the all-party meeting to conduct the budget session smoothly without any disruption,” Mr Mishra told reporters.

Leader of opposition Kamal Nath told reports the Congress wanted all important subjects to be discussed and the State government must reply to queries from the Opposition. The rise in the number of cow deaths, the bad shape of bovine shelters, shortage of fertilizers, seeds and farmers not getting compensation, as well as unemployment will be taken up during the session, said Mr Nath.

Meanwhile, politics over who would be Assembly deputy speaker started during the day with Mr Mishra stating that the post would be held by the BJP as the Congress had broken the tradition of offering this post to the Opposition during its 15-month rule from December 2018 to March 2020. The Congress had appointed their legislator Hina Kaware as deputy speaker.