Now BJP allies oppose land bill

Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and Swabhimani Paksha have written to the parliamentary joint committee

It isn’t just the Sangh Parivar affiliated outfits opposing the contentious land Bill of the Narendra Modi government. Three of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies – Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Swabhimani Paksha – have written to the parliamentary joint committee, which is examining the Bill, to oppose the amendments.

The five MPs of the SAD (Naresh Gurjal, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Sher Singh Ghubaiya) have written to the joint committee opposing the amendments to the 2013 Act. "Not even an inch of it should be acquired by the government without the consent of the farmers/land owners." they said. The MPs said that land should only be acquired for public sector projects and the "government should not get into acquisition for private entities". They added that farmers should not be denied the right to approach court for redressal of grievances.

The SAD is a votary of full proof safeguards for compensating not only farmers but also those "dependents on land, including farm labourers", their MPs wrote. The SAD has consistently opposed repeal of the consent and social impact assessment provisions of the 2013 Land Act.

The SAD demanded that whenever the land is acquired, farmers should be given the option of accepting compensation on market rate plus displacement allowance of 30% of market price of the land or join a land pooling process like what is done under a policy in Punjab. "Punjab has a land acquisition policy in place, which ensures that no land is acquired forcibly," it said.

The Swabhimani Paksha led by Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetty has asked for "consent of 70% of farmers” to be retained. It demanded five-time compensation for the land acquired for PPP or public private partnership infrastructure projects. The 2013 Land Act provides for four-time compensation on the existing market rate, which has been left unchanged in the NDA's bill.

Shetty said that the peasant movement that he leads in Maharashtra, the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana, will support the law "only if the above amendments are included". The party also opposed the NDA’s Bill modifying the five year clause and the government should not allow the change of land use for the purpose of acquisition.

"In the event any change is proposed, government shall notify and the farmer will be entitled for revoking his consent or additional compensation as per market value," it said while red-flagging the acquisition of fertile land. "Never acquire the fertile land except for military or high priority projects in the interest of the national interest," the Paksha said.

Shiv Sena, the second largest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance, has 18 MPs in Lok Sabha and three in Rajya Sabha while Shiromani Akali Dal has 4 in Lok Sabha and 3 in Rajya Sabha. Raju Shetty is the lone MP in Lok Sabha from his party.