The Budget session of Parliament could be concluded any time in the first week of April. This was indicated by the official sources after the announcement of the poll schedule for five state assemblies on Tuesday evening.

Will finance minister Pranab Mukherjee win over the main Opposition BJP in getting its support to the reforms in banking and insurance sectors which he has stated in his Budget on Monday.

The joint parliamentary committee set up to probe the pricing of telecom licences and spectrum during NDA and UPA rule is sharply divided on political lines even before it is fully constituted. The division will reflect in its report expected “by the end of the next session of Parliament”.

The BJP’s nomination of former Union ministers — Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha — to the Joint Parliamentary Committee in the spectrum allocation scam could lead to a controversy with the Congress planning to raise objections. This was indicated here on Friday evening.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will reconstitute the AICC before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh restructures the Cabinet. This was indicated by the party here on Tuesday.

The government’s highest priority was to combat inflation to protect the ordinary Indian from the impact of rising food prices, while a series of measures would be undertaken — both legislative and administrative — to tackle corruption and improve transparency. This was the crux of President Pratibha Patil’s message as she laid out the government’s agenda in her address to a joint sitting of both Houses on the opening day of the Budget Session on Monday.

After giving positive signals about the constitution of a joint parliamentary committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation scam any time in the next five days, crisis managers in the UPA are working on the nitty-gritty of a panel, including its chairman and numbers.

Compulsion of coalitions, as referred by Prime Minister during his interaction with the media in New Delhi, has put the UPA constituents in the dock. Top leaders of the Trinamul Congress, DMK, NCP and the National Conference have not so far reacted. But their “action” could be seen during seat-sharing talks in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal polls.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday scotched speculation about his resignation against the backdrop of surfacing of various scams during the tenure of the UPA-II government, saying he would complete his full term. He said his government was not a lame-duck one, nor was he a lame-duck Prime Minister, and that he would restructure the Union Cabinet after the Budget Session of Parliament.

The government will convey to the Opposition its decision about whether or not to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G scam on February 20 or 21.