Sunday, July 24 2005 17:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The monsoon session of Parliament beginning tomorrow is expected to be a stormy affair with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bracing itself to attack the Government and not to boycott like it did in the previous sessions.

A host of issues including the nuclear deal with US, the Ayodhya terror attack and the Prime Minister's statement on the Iran-India pipeline issue top the Opposition list.

What could add to the worry of the Congress led coalition is the fact that the Left parties, supporting it from outside, have taken a dim view of the deal with Washington as also of Manmohan Singh's stand on the gas pipeline issue.

Government, on the other hand, wants to ensure a smooth session. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has time and again sought to woo the Opposition by expressing readiness of the government to discuss any issue, including the 'tainted' ministers issue, on the floor of the House.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has held a series of meetings with leaders of all parties in Parliament, including the opposition BJP that has assured him that it would not boycott the House this session.

The session, with 23 sittings, is slated to consider a number of important Bills, including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

However, the Pension Bill, being opposed by the Left, is not on the agenda. There is no clarity on whether the Women's Reservation Bill would be brought forward in the session.

The BJP has made it amply clear that it is raring to put the Government on the mat on the Prime Minister's just concluded US visit, which has come under attack from the NDA Chairperson and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, especially on the nuclear issue.

The Congress, on the other hand, is hailing the Prime Minister's visit as 'historic' and 'extremely successful' and was hinting that it was a case of 'sour grapes' for the Opposition.

The Left, which has already been sharply critical of the recently-concluded Indo-US Defence Framework, have also made known their intentions to express their concerns and apprehensions on the Prime Minister's visit.

The BJP-led Opposition would also use the terror attack on the disputed Ayodhya site as ammunition against the Government seeking a review of internal security policy and also gun for Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

But the Government is insisting that the way the security forces repulsed the Ayodhya attack killing all the five militants showed that it was one of the cleanest operations.

Apart from these issues, the Left parties have been demanding that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) Bill be brought in its original form without any dilution in the current session.