An attempt to play one-upmanship by M Karunanidhi, the DMK chief against his “sworn enemy” and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on the land Acquisition Bill 2015 introduced by the BJP in Parliament has landed the former in trouble with “Amma” opening a can of worms about the anti-farmer policies pursued by the previous DMK regimes.
It all started last Friday with Jayalalithaa issuing a note to Tamil Nadu farmers owing allegiance to her party explaining why the AIADMK supported the Right To Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 introduced by the BJP in Parliament. Since she was convicted and sentenced by the Bangalore Special Court in the Disproportionate Asset case in September last and was granted bail by the Supreme Court, the AIADMK chief has restrained herself from issuing statements on major issues. Her only public statement during the last six months were on the Union Railway Budget and the Union Budget.
In Friday’s statement to the farming community, Jayalalithaa reassured them that the AIADMK supported the land Acquisition Act 2015 only because it had her seal on the proposed Bill. “The Bill is one which safeguards the interests of the farmers of Tamil Nadu. The BJP Government also accepted the amendment moved by the AIADMK which empowered the State Governments to protect the interests of the farmers,” said Jayalalithaa.
She also pointed out that the AIADMK was against FDI in retail trade and tests of genetically modified seeds because they were detrimental to the interests of the farmers. Jayalalithaa said the land Acquisition Bill brought in by the Congress-led UPA Government had provisions to take over land without the consent of the State Governments. She also made a passive reference to the ‘double-standard’ of her rivals the DMK which had acquired 11400 acres of lush green paddy fields and agricultural lands for industrial conglomerates.
Not to be outdone, the DMK chief issued a statement on Saturday questioning the “logic” behind Jayalalithaa’s stance in the land Acquisition Bill 2015. He charged that Jayalalithaa’s support to the Bill was in the backdrop of her pending appeal in the Karnataka High Court against the verdict of the Special Court in the disproportionate asset case. A wounded Jayalalitha, who has been staying away from all controversies during the last six months struck back with another statement in which she listed the doublespeak of the DMK chief with regard to the interests of the farnmers.
“It was Karunanidhi who gave rights to a corporate group to extract methane from the fertile Cauvery Delta, the food basket of Tamil Nadu. This would have made the entire Cauvery Delta region a desert. The Karunanidhi regime also allowed the GAIl to lay pipelines along the paddy fields owned farmers in the seven southern districts of the State. It was the timely intervention of the AIADMK Government which saved the farmers,” retorted Jayalalithaa in another statement. She charged in her characteristic style that Karunanidhi is known only for betraying the interests of the farmers and the poor.