Actively taking forward the issue of land acquisition and supporting the farmers in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, during the second edition of their Village Dialogue, said that he will not allow the BJP’s Central Government to acquire land of farmers in Delhi without their consent. Addressing a crowd at Chhatarpur, Kejriwal said that the ordinance brought by Narendra Modi Government to amend the land Acquisition Act of 2013 is against the interests of farmers and AAP will strongly oppose it.
Kejriwal said that both the changes made in the ordinance to amend the 2013 law will adversely affect the farmers and rural population of Delhi. “AAP is of the clear view that land owned by farmers can only be acquired by the Government, if they are in favour of it and forcible acquisition cannot be allowed. The Modi Government had imposed its wrong decision on the country by removing the clause from the 2013 law on land acquisition which made it mandatory to seek a consent of around 70 per cent land owners of the area, but the ordinance states no consent will be required for acquisition in five particular categories, which are so wide that Government can now acquire land for private companies without caring for farmers,” he said.
Referring to the second change made by the ordinance, which removes the clause related to return of land to the owner in case the purpose for which it was acquired is not completed within five years, Kejriwal said this change in the 2013 law is particularly detrimental to the interests of poor people of Delhi. According to the party, the ordinance on land acquisition has been brought to please the corporate houses which had spent a hefty amount on BJP’s campaign for the lok Sabha elections.