‘Govt open to ideas on land acquisition bill’

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government said on Wednesday it was open to suggestions from the Opposition on the contentious land acquisition bill that critics have called anti-farmer and a threat to India’s food security.

Parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in the Lok Sabha a December ordinance, which the bill seeks to replace, was brought “in the need of emergency” as it was important to kick-start the economy that was facing a “developmental holiday” over the past decade.

The ordinance exempts projects in defence, rural electrification, rural housing and industrial corridors from a UPA-era law that mandated the consent of 80% of affected landowners during acquisition.

The Opposition staged a noisy walkout when Naidu said the government did not want to bring ordinances and accused the Congress of having a poor track record on the issue – having introduced as many as 637 ordinances in 62 years.

In the Rajya Sabha, Modi came under fire from the Congress that asked him to rein in “divisive” Hindu groups, saying the Prime Minister faced a threat from within rather than from opposition parties.

Criticising statements from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Mother Teresa and other right-wing representatives on religious conversion, Leader of Opposition in the House, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said the responsibility of restraining such people was Modi’s after he gave the slogan of “sabka saath, sabka vikas (development for all)”.

“Prime Minister, you don’t face a threat from us. You face a threat from within,” Azad said. “Ghar ka bhedi, Lanka dhaye (A Trojan Horse can bring down the empire).”