Jammu and Kashmir Assembly's Budget Session cancelled

Jammu: The Budget Session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, scheduled to start on January 18, has been cancelled after the state was brought under Governor's Rule due to delay in formation of a new government following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

"The Budget Session stands cancelled. There will be no Assembly session from January 18," Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta said today.

Sayeed had died on January 7 after a brief illness.

The new government will decide on when to convene the session afresh, Gupta said. During the 52-day session, the PDP-BJP government headed by Sayeed was to present its annual budget on January 22.

The announcement regarding cancellation of the session comes a day after Governor NN Vohra held a meeting with all administrative Secretaries of the state where he said the matter shall be reviewed by the new government, sources said. The Speaker had before Sayeed's death issued a provisional calendar for the sittings of the third session of the 12th Legislative Assembly.

As per the provisional calendar, the session, which was to get underway with the Governor's address on January 18 and conclude on March 9, would have been the longest ever Budget Session of the House. "As a large number of questions, bills and resolutions have been submitted by the MLAs, they can remain on the agenda for the new session," Gupta said.