A major confrontation is brewing on the issue of the controversial land Bill with the non-NDA regional parties and Congress planning to take on the Government, both inside and outside Parliament. After the Congress rejected the Government overtures on the land Bill, constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar have decided to aggressively fight for the rights of farmers. On the cards is a proposal to paralyse Parliament proceedings and take recourse to mass mobilisation on the streets. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already given a call for gherao of Parliament on April 22.
The Janata Parivar’s stand was finalised on Friday at a meeting chaired by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and attended, among others, by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and RJD boss lalu Prasad. Sources said Nitish too sought support from AAP on this issue when he called on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The JD(U) on Sunday said that it will oppose the land Bill “tooth and nail” and no member of the Janata Parivar would support the proposed law in its present form. The party also questioned the Government’s intention behind proroguing the session of Rajya Sabha and wondered the “tearing hurry” for doing so.
In a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh outlining his party’s position on the land Bill, Sharad Yadav said that the party is against the amendments in the old Bill such as removing the consent clause and the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) provision. JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi said that the constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar have decided to chalk out an agitation from the village-level to Delhi against the Bill, whose passage in its present form they have refused to allow. “If need be, we will also disrupt Parliament. The plans will be announced in a couple of days,” Tyagi said.
Simultaneously, Congress too reiterated its stand and asked all like-minded parties, including Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK, to “demonstrate” its commitment to farmers by opposing the legislation in Rajya Sabha even though it had backed it in the lok Sabha. Former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is coordinating on behalf of Congress with the Opposition parties on the land Bill issue, also met Tyagi on Sunday. BJD and Trinamool Congress may join the agitation.
In his letter, Yadav also mentioned the three-four meetings held with Congress on the issue. “Government should call a meeting of the Opposition parties and farmers’ organisations before taking any decision. Otherwise, the constituents of the Janata Parivar will oppose tooth and nail the amendments being brought by it,” he said.
Tyagi also questioned the Government’s decision to prorogue Rajya Sabha in order to re-promulgate the land Ordinance. In Chennai, Jairam Ramesh while talking to media, said the BJP’s controversial land Acquisition Act was “dictatorial” in nature as it was brought in through an Ordinance without discussion and had done away with many of the pro-farmer provisions made in a similar Act brought in by the Congress-led UPA in 2013.