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With the opposition parties itching to pin the government down on the recent developments in Gujarat and the attack by Sangh Parivar outfits on constitutional bodies, the winter session of Parliament, commencing Monday, is expected to be a stormy affair.
All parties were on Sunday closeted in meetings to decide on the strategy for the session.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reviewed the National Democratic Alliance government's strategy with the BJP's top leadership in the wake of the developments in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh on which the opposition is expected to focus.
Soon after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said the government was prepared for a discussion on all issues ranging from Gujarat to divestment, specially in the oil sector involving IPCL and BPCL.
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Santosh Gangwar were among those who attended the meeting.
It comes ahead of the dinner meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi is slated to host for leaders of all political parties to discuss the issues before Parliament.
The Congress is expected to chiefly focus on the recent attacks by the Sangh Parivar on constitutional bodies and also on the Vijay Kelkar report on tax reforms.
The drought in some parts of the country will also figure on the Congress agenda, party's chief whip Priyaranjan Dasmunshi told rediff.com.
The Samajwadi Party plans to focus on the developments in Uttar Pradesh where it is engaged in a desperate attempt to topple the BSP-BJP-RLD government with the help of independents and some disgruntled MLAs of the ruling coalition.
For the CPI-M, the attack on democratic institutions is top of the agenda.
"How can a VHP leader accuse Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh of acting at the behest of the Vatican?" party MP Hannan Mollah asked.
Mollah said opposition leaders in the two houses would meet on Monday morning to work out a coordinated plan to pin down the government on important issues, including the 'policies of the BJP, which were going against national unity and secularism'.
"We are moving the adjournment motion on Gujarat because despite Prime Minister Vajpayee's assurances, the Centre has not taken effective steps to restore communal amity in the state, which is important for holding of free and fair assembly polls," CPI-M leader Nilotpal Basu told PTI.
Among the other issues expected to figure in this session are that of divestment, atrocities on dalits, the state of the economy, the drought conditions in some parts of the country and the late announcement of relief measures, merely a day before the winter session.
The session will have 23 sittings, including five private members' days, and would conclude on December 20.
Several fresh and pending bills, including the one to curb criminalisation in politics, the Lok Pal Bill, Freedom of Information Bill, are expected to be taken up during this session.
The monsoon session was adjourned sine die after a week following relentless opposition protests over a scam involving the allotment of gas agencies to kin and well-wishers of leaders belonging to the ruling alliance.
The opposition had refused to let Parliament function demanding that Petroleum Minister Ram Naik - whose ministry constituted the dealer selection boards that made the allotments - own moral responsibility for the scandal and resign.
With inputs from PTI
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