In anticipation of Rahul Gandhi’s imminent return from his prolonged “sabbatical” as the Congress has planned a mega rally in Delhi on April 19 against the land Bill under his leadership, the letter war between Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Congress president Sonia Gandhi intensified on Monday.
After Sonia rejected Gadkari’s plea to reconsider her party’s stand on the Bill, the Union Minister hit back at the Congress president for “misleading” the country and alleged that UPA Government’s policies had resulted in unemployment and farmers’ suicide.
Congress sources said that the party would mobilise thousands of farmers from all over the country, especially from neighbouring Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi, to attend the rally which the party hopes will help it exploit the sentiments of farmers against the land Bill.
In his letter dated March 30, Gadkari told Sonia that a discussion on the issues relating to the land Bill was necessary and both sides “should not run away from it.” Gadkari again invited the Congress president for an open discussion on all aspects of the issue.
Responding to a letter by Sonia, Gadkari said not a single acre of land was acquired under the land Acquisition law, brought out by the then UPA Government, for irrigation and other rural and social infrastructure projects, and farmers remained dependent on rains all the time.
In her response to Gadkari, the Congress president had earlier refused offer for a dialogue, saying it was a “mockery” as the BJP regime had unilaterally imposed the land Ordinance and alleged it was favouring industrialists.
Replying to criticism over the move to keep various projects out of the purview of social impact assessment, Gadkari said, the UPA Government kept big land acquisition out of the Social Impact Assessment but made it obligatory for welfare projects run by State Governments.
The former BJP president said the amendments brought out by the Modi Government were in line with the suggestions which were made by Chief Ministers during a consultation exercise on June 27, 2014. Gadkari accused Sonia of misleading the country over the Electricity Act 2003 as well.
Gadkari said the country remained backward and development came to a standstill during UPA’s 10-year rule. “There was no electricity in villages and no water in farms, forcing many farmers to commit suicide,” he said.
Citing a study of the erstwhile Planning Commission, he alleged that her Government spent the money, meant for road, power and irrigation projects, on populist measures to “lure” voters.
Rahul, who has been on a sabbatical, is likely to attend the Kisan Rally against the land Ordinance at Ram lila Maidan a day before Parliament resumes work after a month-long recess of the Budget Session.
AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh indicated that all senior leaders of the Congress party will attend the Kisan rally, adding, “Rahul Gandhi is one of our senior leaders.” Singh said this after a meeting of the AICC general secretaries and PCC chiefs to discuss various political issues, including the agitation strategy against the controversial land Bill.
“The Government has closed all its doors as far as discussion on this anti-farmer Bill is concerned,” Singh added. Taking a dig at Gadkari, who has written to Opposition leaders for a dialogue on the land Bill, Singh sought to know his locus standi as the issue falls in the domain of Rural Development Minister Birender Singh. Rahul has kept away from party affairs for more than a month, and speculation about his returns was settled after Sonia Gandhi, during her visit to Amethi, stated that he will be back soon.
The Gandhi scion’s prolonged absence forced the party to defer its ambitious farmers’ rally planned at Ramlila Ground on April 12. The party earlier staged two demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and a Opposition march from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sonia had led the march but a section of the Congress leaders felt that Rahul’s presence would have further bolstered the movement against the Government’s land Bill.