It’s great land robbery: RAGA

Nov 4, 2017, 05:45 IST

VALSAD: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday likened the land acquisition by the BJP government over its 22-year rule as `robbery’, which he said has left the farmers in distress.On the last day of his three-day Navsarjan Yatra, Gandhi reached out to farmers, fishermen, women and tribals in Valsad, Navsari and Surat districts and said their problems would be highlighted in the Congress manifesto.

He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been talking about eradicating corruption, over his rejection of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, and not implementing it in Gujarat. Interacting with farmers of Gujarat Khedut Samaj from across the state at Dharampur Crossroads in Valsad, Gandhi assured the farmers that if his party was voted to power, they would implement the new land acquisition law enacted by the UPA government in 2013 so that land is not forcibly acquired from the farmers and those willing to give their land for projects of public interest, get at least four times the market rate for their land.

“Anybody can make promises.In 2013, we had faced massive opposition over the land acquisition law. I do not say things that I do not believe with my heart. I cannot make promises like depositing Rs 15 lakh in your bank account. I cannot say that no farmers’ land will be acquired. But I can assure you that with justice and love we can take Gujarat forward.” “Land prices in Gujarat is rising day by day . During the BJP rule, 6.5 lakh acre land was acquired by the government of which 60% has neither been utilized nor returned to the farmers,” Gandhi said.

“The biggest corruption in India is in the way land is acquired from farmers. Your land is taken from you without adequate compensation and given to somebody else. This is robbery ,” Gandhi told the gathering consisting of farmers from across Gujarat. “The PM keeps talking about removing corruption, but when it came to give sanction to the new land acquisition bill (of UPA regime), he opposed it. As soon as Modji became PM, he tried to dilute the law. He brought ordinance in Lok Sabha three times because he was under pressure from the big industrialists. We did not allow them to change the law. So Modiji applied the new trick,” he said.

“He (Modi) called on chief ministers and told them that the Centre cannot change the law at national level so at the state level they can chose not to implement it,” he said.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/its-great-land-robbery-raga/articleshow/61501058.cms