Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Monday said that his party will oppose the Centre's Land Acquisition Bill 'tooth and nail' in the Parliament, adding that the bill endangers food security of the country.
"It [land acquisition bill] is anti-farmer. It also endangers the food security of the country, and these amendments which the government has brought actually takes away all the safeguards of the previous bill and also the consent of the farmers which was mandatory has been diluted to a large extent," Sharma told ANI.
"There is no provision of the return of the land after five years and what is equally important that this government has opened a door to acquire farmer's land for private sector which is unacceptable to us. Therefore, this bill will be opposed tooth and nail in the Parliament," he added.
Meanwhile, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a party of capitalists.
"The BJP has been an anti-farmer since long. It is a party of the capitalists. They have nothing to do with the farmers," he added.
A protest against the Land Bill by the Congress took a violent turn after Delhi Police resorted to the use of water cannons and a baton charge on participants to prevent them from reaching Parliament.
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Ambika Soni, Sachin Pilot and Kumari Selja were also among the protestors.
Meanwhile, a Youth Congress worker fainted after being hit by water cannon.
Further details are awaited.
The Lok Sabha had last week passed the Land Acquisition Bill of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre via a voice vote. Nine amendments to the bill had been adopted.
Several other parties including the Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have also opposed the ruling BJP's Land Acquisition Bill.