Land Bill unlikely to have a smooth passage in joint Parliamentary committee

A deadlock has been averted in Parliament, for now, with the land acquisition Bill being sent to a joint committee of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. However, the Bill is unlikely to have a smooth passage in the committee with the Congress making it clear that “there is no compromise on the land Bill, whatever be the amendment”.

Several other parties that are not allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), too, have are opposed to several clauses in the Bill. The NDA has 14 members in the 30-member committee, but it is still two short of majority. Government strategists are unsure how far this mechanism will be able to resolve the stalemate.

With the Congress firm that it would accept nothing short of the United Progressive Alliance’s land Bill 2013, some of the party’s Rajya Sabha members said at a Congress MPs’ meeting on Tuesday that the party should not be part of the joint committee. However, the common view that prevailed was that the party should register its ‘dissent’ in the committee.

If the government does not bring back the social impact assessment clause, the consent clause, and ‘return of unused land after five years’ clause, the Congress would vote against the Bill.

On Tuesday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had said in the Lok Sabha: “If we cant fight it here, we will take our fight it to the streets.”

A senior Congress leader confided that the government had managed to get regional parties from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to agree to the Bill being sent to a joint committee. “We do not enjoy the numbers in the Lok Sabha, but even in the Rajya Sabha, the entire Opposition is not united on this,” said the Congressman.

Another senior leader observed, “With the Bill being sent to a joint committee, the possibility of a joint session becomes remote. Regional parties now have the scope of having their concerns addressed in the committee.”

The 30-member joint committee has 20 members of the Lok Sabha and the rest from the Rajya Sabha. The NDA has 13 MPs in the committee, while the Congress has five, and the rest are from regional parties.

The Trinamool Congress has said it will not support the Bill. Any vote in favour of the government in the joint committee would depend on the position taken by some of the regional parties, particularly the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Telangana Rashtra Samithsi, Biju Janata Dal and YSR Congress. Most opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and Biju Janata Dal, had protested the government’s bid to discuss the land Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. However, the government is confident of reaching out to some of the regional parties.

Parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday tried to evade questions on whether the joint committee on the land acquisition Bill would pave the way for a joint sitting of Parliament.

Naidu asked journalists not to cast aspersions on a Parliamentary mechanism. However, government strategists came across as unsure whether the joint committee will be able to resolve the stalemate.

The minister also indicated that the government might re-promulgate the land ordinance, stating there have been occasions in the past when certain ordinances have been re-promulgated three-to-four times. The ordinance has already been promulgated twice.