Ex-AAP leaders offer to appear before land bill panel
Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav respond to joint parliamentary panel’s open invitation to suggest changes in the bill
Racing to grab the political opportunity over the land bill, former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders offered to appear before the parliamentary joint committee on the bill to seek changes in it.
On Saturday, in an email to panel chairman Surinder Singh Ahluwalia, Anand Kumar, Prashant Bhushan, Ajit Jha and Yogendra Yadav have said, “We have some concrete suggestions about some changes that can and should be made to implement fully the original spirit of the Act. In this context, we would request a meeting with the joint committee as per your convenience. We shall also send our written sub- mission for your consideration.”
The move is in response to the recent open invitation from the committee to submit suggestions and seek appointments. According to observers, it is also aimed to reach out to the farmers and land owners of Haryana and Outer Delhi, the key target areas for the former leaders.
In the mail, they mention their experience in Jai Kisan Abhiyan — a dialogue launched in Haryana in February this year from the AAP platform before they were ousted.
“Some of us have been i nvo l ve d wi t h Ja i Ki s a n Abhiyan and have travelled to different parts of the country to campaign against the proposed amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. We believe that the proposed amendments amount to annulling the original Act,” said the mail.
The land panel held its first meeting on Friday and will meet twice every week. It is scheduled to submit its report on the first day of the upcoming monsoon session.