New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday held pre-budget consultations with BJP leaders in which representatives from 25 states participated virtually and gave their suggestions on the budget.

The meeting was conducted from the BJP's national headquarters here by Vice President Baijayant Panda, General Secretary Arun Singh and Spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal.

Representatives of 25 states including Mizoram, Tripura, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha attended the meeting and put forward their views for the development of their respective regions.

Apart from state presidents, some prominent think tanks and presidents of the party's various morchas (fronts) also gave their suggestions to the Finance Minister on the budget.

Agarwal told IANS that this meeting for pre-budget discussions, was very important, in which many meaningful suggestions came up. He said the Finance Minister took note of them.

Agarwal said that around 20 written suggestions have also been received and they will be handed over to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Resentatives of tribal and backward classes and women community including industries, professionals, business communities, academicians, economists also participated in this virtual discussion.

The Budget Session of Parliament is going to start from January 31 and the Finance Minister will present the budget in the House on February 1. Sitharaman has been holding pre-budget consultations with all the stakeholders and also taking suggestions from them.