NT Reporter
Panaji
The Goa legislative assembly on Monday passed the full state Budget of Rs 30,194 crore for 2026-27 amid protests from the Opposition members, leading to dramatic scenes inside the House. The assembly was adjourned sine die after the full Budget was passed without discussion, curtailing the 14-day Budget session of the legislative assembly by seven days.
Citing the reason of Model Code of Conduct that has come into force in South Goa following the announcement of schedule by the Election Commission for the Ponda bypoll, to be held on April 9, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant proposed to present 79 demands of grants and the Goa Appropriation Bill, 2026 for passing the entire Budget. Earlier, the assembly suspended certain rules of the House for taking up all demands of grants and for passing the Budget.
Despite an objection raised by Goa Forward party MLA Vijai Sardesai, the government went ahead with the passage of the bill in the absence of the Opposition MLAs in the House. The Opposition MLAs were earlier escorted out of the House after they created uproar and entered the Well of the House over passing of the bill without discussion.
Sardesai, however, stayed in the House and raised his objections to the manner in which the Budget demands were being passed.
Sardesai pointed out that only about 30% of the Budget demands were discussed, while nearly 70% of the demands, amounting to Rs 23,868 crore, were passed without any discussion. He urged the government to adopt the route of a vote on account for four months and pass the full Budget later after a detailed debate, similar to the approach taken in 2013 during the tenure of former chief minister late Manohar Parrikar.
Stating that financial concerns of the Opposition must be addressed, Sardesai said that the members should be allowed to speak on the Budget demands before they were passed.
Defending the decision to pass the full Budget, the Chief Minister said that the government did not want to violate the Model Code of Conduct, which has come into force. He said the move was necessary as the Model Code of Conduct was likely to come into force again soon due to the upcoming municipal elections.
“Opting for a vote on account in the present circumstances is not feasible. Since it is an election year, the government has limited time until December to carry out developmental work,” Sawant said.
The Chief Minister said that a separate assembly session could be convened later, possibly in August or September, during which the Opposition would get an opportunity to raise their issues and introduce their bills.
