New Delhi: Amid fears of a clash between the government and the opposition over the suspension of young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttar Pradesh government and the ordinance on the Food Security Bill, the much-awaited Monsoon Session of Parliament commenced on Monday.

Ahead of the commencement of Monsoon Session, the Prime Minister reached out to the Opposition parties asking them to let Parliament function smoothly.

Talking to reporters, Dr Manmohan Singh said, “The Monsoon Session of Parliament begins today and it is my sincere hope, prayer and appeal to all parties to ensure the smooth functioning of the Parliament.”

“We have wasted a lot of time in the previous two or three sessions. I hope this won’t be repeated this time, “the PM said.

Dr Singh, while appealing to the Opposition to cooperate to make the Monsoon Session productive, said, “The government on its part is willing to discuss every issue on the floor of the house.”

Promising to discuss all issues raised by the Opposition, Singh also hoped that the session that will conclude on August 30 will be “very constructive and productive”.

The Congress-led UPA, which is looking to push the game changer Food Security Bill in the session, may face major blow with an angry Samajwadi Party (SP) at loggerheads with the Congress over the IAS officer’s suspension.

The SP has threatened to oppose the Food Security Bill.

The decision on separate Telangana could also cast a shadow on the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the first few days with members from Andhra Pradesh agitated over the move likely to create uproar.

Several members from the Seemandhra region belonging to Congress and TDP have tendered their resignations in protest against the decision, but they have not been accepted and Congress leadership is attempting to persuade its MPs and ministers not to take extreme action.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had earlier reached out to BJP for support to key reform bills on opening up the insurance and pension sector, but failed to get assurance.

Chidambaram had a discussion with BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Yashwant Sinha on the financial bills that have been listed for consideration during the session.

The BJP leaders agreed to support routine and necessary financial business but indicated that the party will continue to oppose further opening of the insurance and pension sectors to foreign direct investment (FDI).

Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has demanded a debate on the current economic situation in the backdrop of the declining rupee, rising prices and slowing GDP growth.

As many as some 40 bills have been listed for consideration and passage in the session, which will have only 12 working days and government has expressed readiness to extend the session if need be.

While Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath has said that government has received “emphatic assurances” from all political parties about the session being business-like and smooth, Samajwadi Party, which is supporting the government from outside, struck a discordant note saying the session would not run smoothly and would be a stormy affair.

Amid turbulence in Gorkhaland after the decision on Telangana, Trinamool Congress wanted a statement by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde that now no new state will be carved out cautioning otherwise “India will burn”.

Several parties including DMK and Trinamool, RJD, JD(U) have raised the issue of judiciary “interfering” in the work of legislatures and expressed concern over “erosion” of Parliament’s supremacy.

There have also been demands that the National Judicial Commission Bill, which seeks to lay down a new criteria for appointing judges, be brought for consideration and passage in this session itself.

Some parties have also sought amendment of the Constitution to rectify the recent orders of the Supreme Court including on barring persons behind bars even for a day during polls to contest and that of Supreme Court judgement regarding reservation in AIIMS faculty.

BJP is opposed to the recent amendments to the FDI in retail and has demanded a debate on it. In the insurance sector, the government proposes to increase the FDI cap to 49 per cent from 26 per cent, which the BJP opposes. The main opposition party is also against raising the FDI limit in the pension sector to 49 per cent.

The main opposition party has also decided to raise the issue of confrontation between the CBI and the IB and its implications on the country’s security.

The two central agencies had recently been on loggerheads on the Ishrat Jahan encounter case in Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat.