Having decided to take part in the monsoon session of Parliament, the opposition-led National Democratic Alliance on Sunday decided to corner the United Progressive Alliance government by bringing a censure motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks praising the British Raj and an adjournment motion on the controversial Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunals) Act.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of NDA leaders at the residence of NDA chairman and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Sushma Swaraj told reporters.
A censure motion will be brought against Dr Singh for his recent statement at Oxford in the United Kingdom praising the British Raj ,and the opposition will try to bring it under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha, which entails voting, and under Rule 167 in the Rajya Sabha, she said.
"We want a full discussion on the statement of the prime minister in the UK", she said. She alleged that the UPA government was making attempts to nullify the IMDT Act, recently struck down by the Supreme Court, and bring it back in some other form.
The NDA will bring an adjournment in the House on the issue, she added.
Swaraj said that the opposition will, among other things, raise issues such as Dr Singh's recent United States visit, re-emergence of terrorism in Punjab and naxalism in various parts of the country.
The issue of plight of Muslim women, the terrorist attack on Ayodhya, reservation for Muslims, the fatwas issued in religious matters (Imrana), governor's rule in Bihar and Foreign Direct Investment in retail trade were some other issues that the opposition will raise in the upcoming session, Swaraj said.
The BJP leader said the oppostion will also seek discussion on the visit of Hurriyat leaders to Pakistan without passports, the forthcoming World Trade Organisation meeting in Hong Kong and the government's initiative towards farmers.
The meeting was attended by NDA convenor George Fernandes, leader of opposition and BJP president Lal Kishenchand Advani, BJP leaders Jaswant Singh and V K Malhotra, Digvijay Singh (Janata Dal-United) and leaders from the Akali Dal.
Asked whether the opposition had given up its boycott on the issue of 'tainted' ministers, Swaraj said that there was no question of leaving the issue and 'our boycott will continue whenever the tainted ministers speak in the House'.
