Upping its ante against the Centre’s ‘anti-farmers’ agrarian policy and land Acquisition Bill, the AAP will hold a rally on Wednesday, the party leaders said. The rally will start from Jantar Mantar, where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address his supporters, but he won’t be a part of the march towards Parliament.
The march will begin at 12.30 pm from Jantar Mantar on Wednesday. Delhi Police has said that they will stop the march to Parliament. Elaborate security arrangements have been made to stop the march and nobody would be allowed to move beyond Jantar Mantar, a senior Delhi Police official said. Security will be augmented at Metro stations to prevent AAP supporters to move towards the Parliament House, the official added.
lashing out at the Centre, party leader Sanjay Singh said the party will protest against the “deadly Act” for the farmers tooth and nail. The party said farmers from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal belt of Uttar Pradesh will also participate in the rally to protest against the Bill.
“BJP says it has made necessary changes in the Act. This is nothing but a joke. What compelled BJP to change the provisions of the Act, just after nine months in powerIJ This is nothing but a move to benefit its industrialist friends,” said Singh.
Taking a jibe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Kumar Vishwas, who had contested against the Gandhi scion in the 2014 general election from Amethi, said he should first explain how Robert Vadra benefitted in Haryana.
“He has come back from a vacation and his entertainment tour. The leader has been talking about the welfare of the farmers,” Vishwas said. Previously, Arvind Kejriwal joined social activist Anna Hazare at Jantar Mantar on February 24 at a protest against the Centre’s land Ordinance. This was Kejriwal’s first protest after becoming the Chief Minister for a second time.
Meanwhile, Anna had blamed the Modi Government of being unsympathetic towards farmers even as he began a two-day agitation against the controversial land Acquisition Ordinance in the national Capital. During the protest, Anna had also hinted at a bigger agitation if the Modi Government did not take back the land Ordinance describing it as anti-farmer. Anna had even threatened to take the agitation to every district of the country.
The Ordinance tabled in December made major changes to the UPA Government’s land Acquisition Act, including removal of a consent clause for acquiring land for five areas — industrial corridors, PPP projects, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and Defence.
Anna led the agitation to demand the withdrawal of the ‘anti-farmer’ amendments to the land Acquisition Act, 2013. The land Acquisition Bill bridged the gap between Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, the two strong forces of the anti-corruption movement.
In September 2012, the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement had spilt after Kejriwal had announced his intentions of floating a political party leaving the platform of social activism. Anna, however, had refused to support Kejriwal’s political ambitions.