In election year, Raj govt’s U-turn on land allocation

JAIPUR: IN A TOTAL OF 12 CASES, LAND WAS ALLOTTED TO VARIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS AT HIGHLY CONCESSIONAL RATES

The Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government seems to have decided to revisit some of the populist decisions taken by the Gehlot government, after recent electoral setbacks. One such decision, which was put on hold in 2013, was to allocate land at concessional rates for use by different communities. Four years later, the government has decided to go ahead with the plan.

In a cabinet meeting held on February 27, the state cabinet approved land allotment to various sections of the society. In a total of 12 cases, land was allotted to various religious groups at highly concessional rates and reserved prices of 2013.

The Congress has termed the BJP government’s decision appeasement politics following its loss in bypolls. “First, they put the decisions on hold due to vendetta politics. Since they have lost in the by-elections, they want to make different communities happy. It shows that our programmes were credible, and the government has been forced to pursue them,” Rajasthan Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said.

The state’s urban development and housing minister, Srichand Kriplani, refuted the charge of appeasement politics. “The land is allocated to trusts for different activities including opening of schools and hospitals and this allocation is not based on caste equations. The order was never cancelled but decisions made in haste during last six months of Congress rule were put on hold for review,” he said.

As part of the decision, Bharatiya Siksha Prasar Samiti, Ajmer has been allocated 20 bigha (12.50 acres) land in Pushkar at a mere 5% of reserved price. Rajpurohit Chhatravas Vikas Samiti, Jodhpur, has been allocated 2,000 square metres of land in Sirsi village in Jaipur tehsil, also at 5% of reserved price.

Land has also been allocated to eight organisations in Chittorgarh, and one each in Suratgarh, Baran, and Ramganjmandi, at reserved prices of 2013.

A core group of BJP leaders who had analysed the party’s poor performance in the byelections had cited unfavourable caste equations, rural distress and some decisions outside state’s control such as GST for the by-elections defeat.