Land ordinance gets third life, Congress on warpath

The government Saturday decided to re-promulgate the land acquisition ordinance before it lapses on June 3, prompting a response from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being in “an amazing hurry to grab land from poor” farmers.

“Congress Party will continue to fight for the rights of the kisan and mazdoor against this #suitbootkisarkar,” his office tweeted hours after the Union cabinet, chaired by Modi, approved promulgation of the ordinance for the third time. It was promulgated for the first time in December 2014 and re-promulgated in April this year.

Once approved by President Pranab Mukherjee, it would be the 13th executive order of the Modi government since it came to power on May 26 last year.

The government insisted the fresh ordinance was necessary for maintaining continuity and providing a framework to compensate people whose land is acquired.

“As you are aware, the bill is before the joint committee (of Parliament) and the old ordinance will lapse on June 3,” telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

But the Congress V-P’s office termed the move “a 3rd attempt at pushing the anti-farmer Land Ordinance”.

The ordinance has galvanised the Congress, till recently struggling to recover from a series of electoral setbacks. After his return from a 53-day sabbatical on April 16, Rahul has consistently attacked the government over the land bill and the farm crisis triggered by unseasonal rain — both in Parliament and on his travels across the country meeting farmers.

Earlier, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had led leaders from 14 parties on a march from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest the bill.

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), an RSS affiliate, said it would continue to flag its concerns on the consent clause and forced acquisition of farmland. “We suggested nine changes and the government has accommodated some. We will keep flagging our concerns,” said BKS general secretary Prabhakar Kelkar.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, who heads the Congress’s communica-