New Delhi:
The Union Cabinet is expected to discuss the controversial Communal Violence Bill in their meeting today evening.
The draft Bill has been strongly opposed by opposition parties with several chief ministers writing to the Centre expressing their dissatisfaction.
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi led the group of chief ministers who consider the legislation as an attempt to intrude into the powers of state governments.
"It is important for all chief ministers to rise beyond political affiliations and come together to oppose the Bill," Mr Modi had said in his latter to them.
A revised version of the Bill, circulated among parties, no longer assumes that only a member of a minority group can be the victim of communal violence, a provision that the BJP had opposed strongly, saying it was biased against one community.
The government plans to introduce the Bill in this session of Parliament, which ends on December 20 and is seen as the last window to push through important legislations before the general election, due by May 2014.