Bengal Assembly's Budget Session Begins Without Governor's Address, Sparking Tensions

Fearing a new round of conflict between the Mamata Banerjee administration and Raj Bhavan, the Bengal Assembly's budget session began on Monday without the customary address by governor C.V. Ananda Bose.

According to a number of officials and prominent lawmakers, this was the first Bengal Assembly budget session to begin without the governor giving a speech.

Every Budget session is customarily opened with the governor's address. This year, the tradition was broken, according to an Assembly source.

Multiple sources stated that Raj Bhavan was considering "action" for the convention violation, even though Bose's office remained silent on the matter.

"The governor's address is a prerequisite for the start of any budget session, and this did not occur sooner. A source within Raj Bhavan said, "Raj Bhavan is monitoring the developments and considering its next course of action."

When questioned about why the Budget session began without the governor's remarks, Speaker Biman Banerjee said that he will address the matter in the House on Tuesday.

"Whatever I have to say about the governor's speech, will say inside the House tomorrow," he said to reporters.

Given that the House has just reassembled on Monday and that the last session had been adjourned sine die, a number of seasoned Trinamul lawmakers argued that the governor's statement was unnecessary.

Since the session was an extension of the previous one, there is no disagreement or disagreement over the governor's remarks. Manas Bhuniya, a prominent MLA and member in Mamata Banerjee's cabinet, said, "There is no question of starting it with the speech if an ongoing session was not dissolved."

But if the budget session was an extension of the previous one, how can the state government deliver two budgets in a fiscal year, questioned a senior official at Raj Bhavan.

"We have two questions," the representative said. First off, how was the Bdget session began if it's a new one without the governor's speech? Second, how is it possible for the state government to approve two budgets in a year if it was an extension of its previous session?"
"The government is yet to send the Budget copy to governor C.V. Ananda Bose," he said.

Insiders said that because of previous incidents, the Mamata Banerjee administration had been attempting to steer clear of the governor's address.

"The current governor's predecessor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, wanted to include a few new elements in his budget address, which embarrassed the administration. A minister said, "I believe the ruling dispensation purposefully postponed the governor's speech by adjourning the previous session sine die."

Nonetheless, an Assembly source said that the governor may use his authority, as did his predecessor Dhankhar, to prorogue (end) the current session before calling for a new one.

After acknowledging notable individuals who passed away lately, including singer and former Trinamul MLA Anup Ghosal, well-known classical performer Ustad Rashid Khan, and former CPM MLA Maharani Konar, the assembly's Monday session was postponed.