Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday declared that he will oppose “tooth and nail” the controversial land Acquisition Bill and make the Government heed to the demands for its withdrawal. In two interactive sessions with farmers and their representatives from various States at his residence, a day before the party’s Kisan-Khet Mazdoor rally at Ramlila Maidan, the Congress vice-president told them that he and his party will fight a “decisive” battle on farmers’ issue, including the NDA’s land Acquisition Bill, according to party leaders. The party also launched a bilingual website zameenwapsi.com, which, according to former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, is a one-stop window to clear the air on the controversy and give a real picture on the land acquisition issue.
At the media briefing on the website launch, Ramesh said that Modi has resorted to a “bundle of lies” on the issue and misleading people and the website will expose all such queries. His party colleague Digvijay Singh said that the Congress is ready for a debate with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari say that they are ready for a debate. If that was the case why did they bring the OrdinanceIJ Gadkari talks of debate in such a way as if he was throwing a challenge. I as well as Jairam Ramesh are ready to debate,” said Digvijay.
Earlier in the day, Rahul did not speak much on the land Ordinance issue during his 50-minute interaction with farmers except for assuring the large gathering at his residence for a “decisive” fight. Party sources said Rahul is likely to speak at length at the rally, which also will be his first public address after returning from a controversial sabbatical. He will also intervene when the Bill comes in the lok Sabha when the second part of the Budget Session begins from Monday.
The Parliament Session is expected to witness serious confrontation between the Government and the Opposition on the land Bill issue. The Congress and several other Opposition parties are projecting the Modi dispensation as “pro-corporate” and “anti-farmer” for pushing the measure, a view dismissed by the BJP and the Government. Farmer leaders said that Rahul asked them about their views on the land Ordinance and how much damage has happened to their crop due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm.
Rahul was conveyed by the farmers that people who had no understanding of grassroots issues and knowledge of agriculture are engaged in drafting policies for them. The delegation included farmers from Bhatta Parsaul village from where Rahul had launched a “padyatra” in 2011 against forcible land acquisition, a protest that had culminated in passage of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Rahul did not speak to the large media contingent parked outside his residence. Thousands of farmers particularly from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh are expected to take part in the protest on Sunday.
In a media release, the AICC said that Rahul assured the farmers that their pain, suffering and anguish are closest to his heart and the party stands with the entire farming community in this hour of unprecedented calamity and “Government-driven” crisis. “He called upon the lakhs of farmers and landless labourers to come to Ramlila Ground tomorrow to participate and lend their voice to the mass struggle for finding a decisive solution,” the party said in the release.
Farmers and landless labourers told Rahul that Modi Government was apathetic in procuring Rabi crops, particularly wheat. “They said that while wheat and other Rabi crops are lying in open in grain markets, Government is not procuring the same at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 1,450 per quintal on the plea that crop had moisture content over 14 per cent and that crop had either shrivelled or shrunk or got blackened on account of incessant rain and hailstorms,” the party said. It also claimed that farmers alleged “criminal negligence” on the part of Modi Government and State Governments in not giving compensation for over 200 lakh hectares of Rabi crop, which had been completely destroyed in 14 different States.