CLP leader Virbhadra Singh today held a meeting with party MLAs to chalk- out the Congress strategy for the session and raise key issues for grilling the government on its failures. For countering the Opposition attacks, BJP MLAs also met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and finalised the strategy for floor coordination and retaliating the Opposition.

Inquiries from the assembly secretariat reveal that besides the usual legislative business and questions in important matters of development, policy decisions and programme implementation, Opposition MLAs have given notices for discussions on matters relating to financial management, rising prices, large-scale transfer of the employees and law and order situation.

``There is enough material with us now to take on the government. Eight months performance of the government is dismal, disappointing and poor,'' CLP leader Virbhadra Singh said.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs J P Nadda, however, says the performance of the government had surpassed all public expectations. ``May it be development, programme implementation or bringing the administration back on the rails, the government has done extremely well,'' he says and maintains that the BJP victory in Baijnath was a seal on the government's performance.

The former Chief Minister told ENS after the meeting that party MLAs were prepared to mount their collective and individual attacks against the government. ``All those issues, which the BJP had been trying to raise against the Congress, when we were in power, have now recoiled on the BJP itself,'' claims Virbhadra Singh. He says corruption, favouritism in recruitment, misuse of official machinery in the Baijnath during the polls, lack of development activities and mass transfers were some of the important issues on the Congress agenda.

Though the official agenda did not schedule election to the post of deputy speaker, the ruling party is expected to move a resolution proposing the name of Ram Dass Malangar, a BJP MLA from Una, for his election as deputy speaker. Malangar was left out in the recent expansion of the cabinet and the Chief Minister is understood to have persuaded him to accept the post of deputy speaker.

The ruling party, on the other hand, has proposed to highlight some of the achievements of the government, including recent agreement signed on execution of the Parbati Hydel Project and financial relief given by the Centre on the Baira-Siul Project.

Though the HVC is a part of the government, it also plans to question the government's stand on some of the issues like impending probe against former CM Virbhadra Singh.