Rahul assures support for real estate bill

NOIDA: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met representatives of the flat owners’ associations of Noida and Greater Noida and extended his support to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) bill.

In order to ensure the bill is passed, homebuyers started a movement by uploading video messages on Twitter. HT was the first to report on the online movement. The homebuyers had planned a protest against Gandhi if the Opposition halted the proceedings of Parliament in this Budget session, blocking the bill.

“Rahul Gandhi told us not to worry and assured the Congress was never against RERA bill. He said if the government tables the bill, he will support it without any second thoughts,” said Abhishek Kumar, president, New Era Flat Owners’ Association (NEFOWA).

“Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill was introduced by INC in 2013. I would urge Govt to bring the Bill in the House at the earliest,” Gandhi later tweeted. “I assured them that @INCIndia is fully committed to a strong Real Estate Bill to protect them. Met representatives of home buyers from across the country earlier today,” he added.

Flat-owners had started the movement ‘Fight for Rer, creating a hashtag ‘#passrerabill’ to tag video messages to all concerned politicians. “Following his assurance, we have cancelled our protest against him, which was scheduled on March 5. Now we are trying to meet union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu to convince him to table the bill in this session,” said Shweta Bharati, a member of the flat owners’ association.