“The decision to postpone a regular budget beyond the Lok Sabha elections clearly reflects the ulterior motive of the state government to hike taxes and impose new duties in the regular budget. Till now, no election code of conduct is in place so nothing withholds them from presenting a regular budget in the current session starting from February 27,” he said.

He added: “The vote-on-account or the interim budget presented by the UPA at the Centre was precisely because the tenure of the present Lok Sabha will expire in May. According to constitutional propriety, the Akali-BJP government is bound to present a regular budget in the upcoming budget session, which will reveal the financial condition of the state. A budget is a vital document that reflects the financial prudence of any government and thus, it is all the more important that before the people of Punjab vote for Lok Sabha elections they are able to take in account fiscal management of the state by the incumbent government.”