HP Cong flays Sukhbir Badal's demand for relaxation in land purchase restrictions

The Congress on Wednesday took exception to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal's demand that outsiders be allowed to purchase land in Himachal Pradesh.

Responding to the statement, state Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said Sukhbir might have issued the statement as part of the conspiracy to relax Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act.

The former Punjab Deputy chief minister and Lok Sabha MP Sukhbir Badal had made this demand in reaction to the revocation of special status under Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir.

He had demanded that restrictions on the purchase of land be revoked in Himachal Pradesh and the other states, where ownership rights are denied to outsiders.

Rathore said Section 118 was entirely different and could not be equated with Article 370.

Any attempt to relax the norms would be strongly opposed, he added.

The law had been enacted to safeguard interests of small farmers in the state and anyone could buy land to construct a house or set up business after justifying it before the state government, he added.

He alleged that the BJP government in the state was trying to relax the norms to provide land to the industrialists who arranged funds for the party during the recent Parliamentary elections.

Rathore claimed that this was behind the Congress launching the Himachal Bachao campaign on the birth anniversary of first Himachal CM Yashwant Singh Parmar on August 4.