The BJP on Friday maintained that farmers have welcomed the Modi Government’s “quick and sensitive response” to compensate for the crops destroyed due to unseasonal rains and claimed that the Congress’ stand on the land Acquisition Bill has been completely “exposed”. “The ongoing awareness campaign, carried out by senior BJP Ministers and party leaders, on the land Bill has evoked ‘favourable reaction’ from the farming community,” the party sources said.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman said the Congress may go to town on UPA’s 2013 land Bill but its own Chief Ministers had in the past described it as “non-workable”. She quoted the Congress leaders as saying “it is impossible to obtain land” through “this law.” The BJP leader said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan and Manipur CM Ibobi Singh had maintained that the UPA’s land Acquisition Bill was difficult to implement.
She said the law brought by the Congress party was a big hurdle in bringing developmental projects which necessitated amendments. Pointing to the prompt call taken by PM Narendra Modi in providing immediate relief and relaxation of criteria for compensation in the wake of unseasonal rains in some States, she said the step was well-received in rural areas.” “In a similar situation, the UPA Government did not take a comparable initiative,” she added.