Govt, oppn eye maximum mileage in the last mile

Uncertainty looms large over substantial government business during the second half of the budget session of Parliament as the BJP-led opposition gets ready to corner the government on a host of issues.

Uncertainty looms large over substantial government business during the second half of the budget session of Parliament as the BJP-led opposition gets ready to corner the government on a host of issues.

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The second half is slated from April 22 to May 10.

In what is widely perceived as the last effective opportunity for the government to push its agenda, the ruling party is hoping to pass long-pending key bills during this session. The opposition, however, is set to storm the session over issues such as the rape of a minor girl in Delhi, JPC report on 2G specturm scam and the recent developments on the coalgate report of the CBI.

With its strength reduced in Lok Sabha after the pull out of the DMK, the UPA is now heavily dependent on support of SP and BSP in Lok Sabha to pass bills. In Rajya Sabha, it will have to seek support of the BJP that has increasingly turned hostile towards the Congress as the elections are nearing.

After its strategy meeting on Saturday for the session, the NDA stepped up its attack on the UPA, expressing its "mounting concern at the state of the nation under the continuing misdeeds of this diarchal leadership of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi; resulting in drift, gross maladministration and rampant corruption".

Before hitting the campaign for 2014 polls, the Congress-led UPA government wants to ensure the passage of bills such as food security and land acquisition. The UPA has already failed to push these bills during the first half of the session. Desperate to pass the land bill, the government has held a series of meetings with the opposition to evolve a consensus.

At the beginning of the budget session, the government had listed 35 legislations for passage. While it managed to pass the criminal law amendments, most of its agenda remains pending.