KATHMANDU, Nepal: Nepal has stepped up security in the capital and put police were on alert, anticipating trouble both inside parliament and on the streets because of planned protests by the opposition against governing coalition plans to push through a draft of a new constitution.

Chief government administrator of Kathmandu Ek Narayan Aryal said Thursday that thousands of police in riot gear and armed with bamboo batons were guarding the area around the Constitution Assembly and areas of the capital Kathmandu.

The opposition has vowed to block the governing parties from pushing through a draft of the constitution, saying it should be done only with a consensus of all the parties. An earlier attempt on Tuesday by the governing parties ended in violence in the assembly.