The Election Commission on Monday gave its nod to the Centre to present the Union Budget on 1 February ahead of the Assembly polls, but said no schemes related to these poll-bound states can be announced. It also said that the Finance Minister's speech should not refer to the government's achievements in these states.
It also reminded the government of a 2009 advisory which said vote-on-account instead of a full fledged budget is presented ahead of elections as per convention.
“The Commission hereby directs that in the interest of free and fair elections and in order to maintain level playing field, no state specific schemes shall be announced which may have the effect of influencing the electors of the five poll going states in favour of the ruling parties," the EC told Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.
Polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa will be held between 4 February and 8 March.
Referring to the 2009 advisory, the poll panel said it “expects that the advice given by the Commission will also be duly kept in view by the government at the time of the presentation of the Budget for the financial year 2017-18”.
In 2009, the EC had said that it would not like to lay down a precept or prescribe a course of action regarding the budget during poll time.
“However, it would advise in case of states that are going for Assembly polls that a vote-on-account should be taken," the poll panel had said.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea seeking postponement of Union Budget presentation ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, saying there was no illustration that it would influence voters.
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