The budget session of Parliament began with President Pranab Mukherjee's addressed to members of both the houses.

As the Budget session 2017 began, President Pranab Mukherjee addressed joint session of Parliament.
He arrived at the Parliament House in a traditional coach-and-six from Rashtrapati Bhavan to address the joint sitting of Parliament.

Reviving the old tradition of arriving in Parliament in a buggy, Mukherjee was accompanied by the horse-mounted President's Bodyguard.

On his arrival at Parliament, the President went to the central hall in the traditional procession along with Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  

"This is a historic session heralding the advancement of the budget cycle and merger of the railway budget with general budget for the first time in independent India," said Mukherjee addressing members of both the houses.

"We gather once again to celebrate democracy and cherished value and culture that has prospered through out the long history of our country. A culture that guides my governmnet towards 'sabka saath sabka vikas'," he added.

The budget will be presented on Wednesday.

The session will take a break from February 9, reconvene on March 9 and end on April 12.