The battle lines between the Congress-led opposition and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government over its controversial land acquisition ordinance have become further entrenched.
The government’s Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Friday decided to prorogue the Rajya Sabha to enable it to re-issue the ordinance, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi dashed off a stinging letter to Union minister Nitin Gadkari hitting out at the NDA government for enacting an anti-farmer bill to favour industrialists.
Sonia Gandhi was replying to Gadkari’s letter in which he had explained how the Modi government had improved the existing Bill and invited the Congress president to a public debate on the legislation.
Although the numbers are clearly stacked against the NDA government in the Rajya Sabha, where a numerically stronger united opposition forced it to defer the introduction of the Bill in the first half of the budget session, the ruling alliance has decided to persist with its legislation.
The government’s floor managers are feeling encouraged after they succeeded in dividing the opposition for the passage of the coal mines Bill and mines and minerals Bill. BJP insiders said a similar effort will be made to create fissures in the opposition on the land Bill.
Spreading the message
Having tasted success once, the government believes it will be able to manage the numbers when Parliament reconvenes for the second leg of the budget session on April 20.
While the Congress and the Left parties are unlikely to relent, the BJP leaders plan to use the next three weeks to work on regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party to vote for their Bill. Alternatively, they will persuade them to abstain or walk out during the voting, which would also work to the government’s advantage.
However, it could well prove to be an uphill task as opposition parties will find it difficult to explain the change in their stand to the electorate, especially since this issue has resonated with the farming community.
At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed all BJP ministers to use this time to travel across the country and dispel the belief that the NDA government’s land bill will help the corporates and is against the interests of farmers. Modi kick-started this process by reaching out to the farmers in his last radio talk “Mann ki Baat”, in which he defended his government’s decision to bring this bill and assured them that their interests will not be compromised.
Since the Bill is also being resisted by BJP’s allies like the Shiv Sena, the government is simultaneously working on bringing in cosmetic changes to mollify all critics. It is unlikely to give in on the consent clause totally but it is expected to give state governments the freedom to seek the consent of farmers whose land is to be acquired. It will also give a public assurance that the government will acquire irrigated and multi-crop land only as a last resort and will first acquire wasteland which is not being farmed.
“We will remove people’s misgivings about the Bill,” Rural Development Minister Birender Singh told Scroll.in. “At the same time, we are also working on improving the Bill on the basis of the suggestions we are receiving from all quarters.”
Bulldozing the Parliament
After taking a political call on the Bill, the government went through with the technical procedures on Friday to put this issue on track. As the ordinance is lapsing on April 5, the government had to repromulgate it before this deadline.
According to the Constitution, an ordinance cannot be promulgated or repromulgated when Parliament is in session. At least one house of Parliament has to be prorogued through a Presidential order to enable the government to re-issue an ordinance.
The ruling alliance’s decision to prorogue the Rajya Sabha on Friday has cleared the decks for the repromulgation of the land Bill, which will include the nine amendments cleared by the Lok Sabha during the vote on the legislation.
As things stand, the government and the Congress-led opposition will be locked in an intense battle in the coming weeks as both sides will try to drum up public support for their version of the truth on the contentious legislation.
After leading a march of opposition MPs against the NDA government’s land Bill, Sonia Gandhi followed it up on Friday with a hard-hitting letter in which she accused the ruling alliance of telling lies and misleading the people. While demanding that the Bill cleared during the United Progressive Alliance government’s regime be restored in totality, she said the Congress could never support a Bill which hurts the interests of farmers. She also upbraided the government for dubbing the Bill’s opponents as “anti-national” and detailed how the original Bill had been misconstrued and diluted.
Having succeeded in beaming out the message that the NDA government’s land Bill is anti-farmer, the Congress effort now is to sustain this campaign and keep the opposition united. It would like to thwart the government’s efforts to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha or ensure its defeat. If the Bill is voted out, the government will be able to call a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament to secure its passage.
The Congress is not averse to this option as it believes this will enable it to launch a full-scale political battle against the NDA government for pushing through an anti-farmer Bill by bulldozing Parliament.
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The government’s Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Friday decided to prorogue the Rajya Sabha to enable it to re-issue the ordinance, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi dashed off a stinging letter to Union minister Nitin Gadkari hitting out at the NDA government for enacting an anti-farmer bill to favour industrialists.
Sonia Gandhi was replying to Gadkari’s letter in which he had explained how the Modi government had improved the existing Bill and invited the Congress president to a public debate on the legislation.
Although the numbers are clearly stacked against the NDA government in the Rajya Sabha, where a numerically stronger united opposition forced it to defer the introduction of the Bill in the first half of the budget session, the ruling alliance has decided to persist with its legislation.
The government’s floor managers are feeling encouraged after they succeeded in dividing the opposition for the passage of the coal mines Bill and mines and minerals Bill. BJP insiders said a similar effort will be made to create fissures in the opposition on the land Bill.
Spreading the message
Having tasted success once, the government believes it will be able to manage the numbers when Parliament reconvenes for the second leg of the budget session on April 20.
While the Congress and the Left parties are unlikely to relent, the BJP leaders plan to use the next three weeks to work on regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party to vote for their Bill. Alternatively, they will persuade them to abstain or walk out during the voting, which would also work to the government’s advantage.
However, it could well prove to be an uphill task as opposition parties will find it difficult to explain the change in their stand to the electorate, especially since this issue has resonated with the farming community.
At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed all BJP ministers to use this time to travel across the country and dispel the belief that the NDA government’s land bill will help the corporates and is against the interests of farmers. Modi kick-started this process by reaching out to the farmers in his last radio talk “Mann ki Baat”, in which he defended his government’s decision to bring this bill and assured them that their interests will not be compromised.
Since the Bill is also being resisted by BJP’s allies like the Shiv Sena, the government is simultaneously working on bringing in cosmetic changes to mollify all critics. It is unlikely to give in on the consent clause totally but it is expected to give state governments the freedom to seek the consent of farmers whose land is to be acquired. It will also give a public assurance that the government will acquire irrigated and multi-crop land only as a last resort and will first acquire wasteland which is not being farmed.
“We will remove people’s misgivings about the Bill,” Rural Development Minister Birender Singh told Scroll.in. “At the same time, we are also working on improving the Bill on the basis of the suggestions we are receiving from all quarters.”
Bulldozing the Parliament
After taking a political call on the Bill, the government went through with the technical procedures on Friday to put this issue on track. As the ordinance is lapsing on April 5, the government had to repromulgate it before this deadline.
According to the Constitution, an ordinance cannot be promulgated or repromulgated when Parliament is in session. At least one house of Parliament has to be prorogued through a Presidential order to enable the government to re-issue an ordinance.
The ruling alliance’s decision to prorogue the Rajya Sabha on Friday has cleared the decks for the repromulgation of the land Bill, which will include the nine amendments cleared by the Lok Sabha during the vote on the legislation.
As things stand, the government and the Congress-led opposition will be locked in an intense battle in the coming weeks as both sides will try to drum up public support for their version of the truth on the contentious legislation.
After leading a march of opposition MPs against the NDA government’s land Bill, Sonia Gandhi followed it up on Friday with a hard-hitting letter in which she accused the ruling alliance of telling lies and misleading the people. While demanding that the Bill cleared during the United Progressive Alliance government’s regime be restored in totality, she said the Congress could never support a Bill which hurts the interests of farmers. She also upbraided the government for dubbing the Bill’s opponents as “anti-national” and detailed how the original Bill had been misconstrued and diluted.
Having succeeded in beaming out the message that the NDA government’s land Bill is anti-farmer, the Congress effort now is to sustain this campaign and keep the opposition united. It would like to thwart the government’s efforts to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha or ensure its defeat. If the Bill is voted out, the government will be able to call a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament to secure its passage.
The Congress is not averse to this option as it believes this will enable it to launch a full-scale political battle against the NDA government for pushing through an anti-farmer Bill by bulldozing Parliament.