Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, Questioning the intriguing silence of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal over the NDA’s proposal to dilute the pro-farmer Land Acquisition Act enacted by the previous UPA government in 2014, the Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today said, it will not be allowed at any cost.
“The BJP led NDA government, of which Akali Dal is part and parcel, is subtly trying to revert back to the Land Acquisition Law of 1894 of the British which was absolutely exploitative and had been enacted mainly to serve the colonial interests”, he remarked, while warning, that it will not be allowed at any cost come what may.
The former Punjab Chief Minister shared the concern of the farmers from across the country over the BJP’s intentions. He regretted that Mr Badal, who claims to be the sole representative and the guardian of the farmers’ interests had resorted to intriguing silence on such a crucial matter concerning them (the farmers).
“The very fact that the BJP did not wait for the parliament to convene and issued an ordinance earlier, to dilute the law thus putting the farmers’ at a massive disadvantage, smacks of something fishy”, he observed, while pointing out how hurriedly the union government issued the ordinance. He asked, when the government knew it had in any case come to the parliament, as it has come now, why did it need to bring an ordinance.
Capt Amarinder expressed confidence that the new law, which is totally against the interests of the farmers, will not sail through the parliament as the NDA lacks the numbers in the Rajya Sabha. He pointed out, when the law had been passed by the UPA, the BJP had very much been taken into confidence at that time. “Now it probably wants to prove more loyal to the corporate houses while ignoring the genuine concerns and apprehensions of millions of farmers across the country”, he said.
The Congress leader also clarified that appreciating and understanding the concerns of the farmers and defending their rights should not mean that the Congress did not want the business and investments to grow. “But we can’t rob Peter to pay Paul, we have to draw a perfect balance”, he remarked.
