Tuesday, May 9 2006 11:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The second phase of the budget session of Parliament beginning tomorrow (May 10,2006) is by all accounts expected to be a stormy affair with opposition BJP raring to put the UPA in the dock on a number of issues including Volcker controversy and its key outside supporters Left parties giving notice of being aggressive on foreign policy.

Being held in the backdrop of the assembly elections in five states, the two-week session is expected to witness the impact of the poll outcome.

The controversy over the OBC quota in elite educational institutions is also likely to figure prominently with the differences between Union Ministers Arjun Singh and Kapil Sibal and agitation by section of students making it a major issue.

RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has even favoured a 5 per cent reservation for economically poor in upper caste while Congress and BJP trying to chart out a middle path out of what has come to be known as Mandal-II.

The BJP has put the government on notice on several issues, including the Volcker controversy and the statements of former Union Minister Natwar Singh as also on the killings of Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Left parties have warned they would be on offensive after the polls and have been agitating on several issues, including airport privatisation and FDI in retail.

Congress and its allies in the ruling coalition are expected to raise the Vadodara riots to put BJP in an embarrassing position as the violence there had brought the Narendra Modi government under renewed attack.

Both Houses of Parliament are expected to pay homage on the opening day to senior BJP leader and former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and other current and former members who died during the inter-session period.

This will be the first session for Sonia Gandhi who is expected to win from Rae Bareli, the seat which she resigned in the wake of Opposition targeting her on the Office of Profit row, on her parliamentary comeback.

Gandhi is likely to be in time when Parliament is expected to deliberate on a legislation on the Office of Profit issue.

Though government has announced that legislation on the controversial issue would be on its priority agenda, it is not clear what shape the proposed legislation would take.

Political parties had been asked to give their views and suggestions on the proposed legislation in writing to the Leader of the Lok Sabha and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee but so far the picture is not clear as to how many of them have done so.

The BJP is expected to focus on the attacks on Hindus in Jammmu and Kashmir by drawing the government's attention to the recent Doda killings.

The saffron party is also planning to embarrass the Congress-led coalition on the separate Telengana issue with the party seeking to drive a wedge by attempting to wean away TRS from UPA.

"We will support the Government if it comes with a Bill on it. Otherwise, it is for TRS to decide whether they want to be part of the UPA", the BJP leaders, who held a marathon session yesterday (May 8, 2006) under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said.

The meeting identified about 40 issues and decided to reserve certain days to raise major issues.

It would take up the sealing and demolition of residential and commercial premises in Delhi on May 11 to coincide with the Delhi Bandh called by some Traders' organisations.

The spiralling prices of wheat and pulses, the Government not taking any action against Congress party despite all the proofs suggesting its alleged involvement in the oil-for-food scam and the Prime Minister allegedly sitting on the complaint against Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, the alleged corruption charges against Communication Minister Dayanidhi Maran are some of the other major issues on which the BJP plans to put the Government on the mat.

The CPI-M and other Left parties are planning to meet first separately and later together-- to chalk out their future course of action.