Capt rejects Modi’s defence of land law

Chandigarh, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today rejected the defence put forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Land Acquisition Bill.
“This is an exercise in futility as the Prime Minister has failed to explain and convince the country as to what was the need to replace the Land Acquisition Act brought by the previous UPA government,” Capt Amarinder observed in a statement issued here today. He was reacting to Modi’s address to the farmers in his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme on the radio.
Referring to the Prime Minister’s claim that the previous UPA regime had brought the act in a hurry, the Congress leader remarked, “It is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.” He claimed the UPA government had brought in the law after thorough deliberations with all stakeholders, including the BJP, which was in the Opposition then.
“Rather it is the other way round as the NDA government had shown unabashed hurry to bring in a new land acquisition law by not waiting for parliamentary approval and instead adopting the ordinance route,” he pointed out. Amarinder claimed it was wrong to say that the land acquisition law in its current form, as brought in by the UPA government, hampered investments or development.
Farmers to hold protests
Fatehgarh Sahib: The Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Sidhupur) will hold protests against the land acquisition Bill passed by the Union Government, at the administrative complexes of all districts in the state on March 31.
Presiding over a meeting here today, BKU state president Pishoura Sidhupur said the BKU was against the land acquisition Bill as it was against the interests of the farmers. He said the landholding share of farmers had already gone down considerably and this new Bill would make the farmers landless.