New Delhi:
The 12 days of the winter session of parliament promise some heat, with main opposition party, the BJP making it clear at an all-party meeting on Monday that it will attack the government on a number of issues.
The session convenes on Thursday and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is holding a meeting of all parties to try and ensure that there is minimum disruption.
The BJP has demanded a discussion on internal security with special focus on the serial blasts in Patna just before its leader
Narendra Modi's rally in October. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the BJP also wants discussions on crimes against women and the functioning of a parliamentary panel on the 2G telecom scam.
The Left wants the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar two months ago discussed. And a debate on the economy.
That is a lot of discussion for the short session, in which the government also plans to push Bills like the Lokpal Bill and Women's Reservation Bill which have been passed by one House and now await the other House's nod.
It also plans to introduce a Bill to seal a border agreement with Bangladesh. But there is no Bill to set in motion the formation of a new Telangana state, which the BJP says must be done immediately.
"It's a short session. So we will give priority to those Bills that have been passed in one House and await passage in another," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said.
That might be easier said than done. The Samajwadi Party has threatened to stall Parliament proceedings if the Women's Bill and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Bill on quota in promotion are tabled by the UPA government that it lends crucial external support to.
"Some parties have expressed reservation. They can vote against the Bill but we will talk to them to allow the House to function," Mr Kamal Nath said.