Sparks likely to fly over B’pura deaths, Vijay Shah as Budget session opens Mon

Bhopal: The Budget session of the state legislative assembly will get underway on Monday, with the budget scheduled to be presented on Wednesday. According to a notification issued by the state assembly secretariat, Governor Mangubhai C Patel will make the customary inaugural address as the Budget session convenes. The session will span 19 days until March 6, comprising 12 sittings.The session is expected to be stormy, as the principal opposition, Congress, is likely to corner the treasury over the diarrhoea deaths linked sewage contamination of groundwater in Indore's Bhagirathpura, deaths of children after ingesting an alleged spurious cough syrup in Chhindwara and Betul and the alleged recovery of beef from a slaughterhouse in Bhopal. The opposition may also crank up the heat on the government over the alleged dilly-dallying in acting against state minister Vijay Shah over his offensive remark against army officer, Col. Sofiya Qureshi, despite the Supreme Court setting a two-week deadline for the sanction of prosecution against the minister.It is speculated that Deputy chief minister Jagdish Devda, who is additionally in charge of the Finance department, will present a budget totalling Rs 4.7 lakh crore for fiscal 2026-27, up from the total outlay of the previous budget for fiscal 2025-26, which was Rs 4.21 lakh crore.The upcoming session could also see Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar take a decision on Congress MLA from Bina, Nirmala Sapre, who defected to the BJP during the Lok Sabha election in May 2025 but was not given the ruling party membership. The Congress took the matter to the High Court, where the State claimed that the matter was before the Speaker. Recently, the Speaker called LOP Umang Singhar for talks over Sapre's membership of the House. Congress wants her membership of the assembly annulled. In March, the assembly will be in session for only 2 days, on March 5 and 6, owing to extended Holi celebrations from March 2 to 4. In a first for Madhya Pradesh, the budget this year will be presented in a paperless format, discarding heavy bundles of the budget booklets, However, printed copies of the budget speech would be handed out in limited numbers.PM's principal secy calls on Governor, CMIn a significant development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary, PK Mishra, met Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief minister Mohan Yadav in Bhopal on Saturday. The meeting at the Governor's official residence, Lok Bhavan, was described as a courtesy call. Officials privy to the meeting said various subjects were discussed during the parleys. Mishra was in the city to attend a private function, officials said.Mishra also met CM Yadav separately at the latter's official residence, Samatva Bhavan, on Saturday, discussing various subjects, according to officials.