PM confident UPA has the numbers it needs

New Delhi: Ahead of the Budget session on Monday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was confident that Parliament would run smoothly. He also said that the UPA would handle the pressure from the Opposition as well as allies coming its way.

"Pressure is part of Parliamentary life," Singh said.

He also appealed to all political parties to cooperate. "I request all political parties to cooperate. We are willing to discuss and debate all issues in Parliament," he said.

"I am confident that we have all the numbers we need," he added.

The Budget session of Parliament begins on Monday. It is likely to be a tough one for the Congress as it comes on the heels of a poor electoral performance in the Assembly Polls.

The government is hoping to pass some important bills in this session including the Lokpal Bill and the Right to Education Bill.

Meanwhile, the Opposition is getting ready to take on the government on issues like the NCTC, FDI in retail, the ISRO controversy, quota politics and the fishermen killing incident involving two Italian naval personnel.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has called for attention on the custody battle for two Indian children in Norway.

Senior BJP Leader LK Advani has been building pressure on the government, he said he wants to know what action has been taken to get back the black money stashed abroad. "India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had assured in Parliament that steps will be taken to bring back the black money. We have decided to put forward a letter in Parliament on the issue of black money and I hope that it will be addressed and we will know what the government has done in this direction," he said.

The Left will also take on the government on price rise among other issues.

Not just the Opposition, but allies like the Trinamool Congress, too, have decided to corner the government on several issues like price rise, NCTC and FDI. The government, however, needs the support of allies like Mamata Banerjee on the General Budget.

The government is likely to call an all-party meeting soon to discuss contentious issues. Both the Congress and the BJP will closely watch political alignments in Parliament.