ANANTAPUR (AP), July 24: Hitting out at the NDA Government over the contentious Land bill, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today said he would not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi take farmers’ land easily.
Referring to Government’s move to amend the Land bill to give flexibility to states to frame their own laws in a bid to break the impasse in Parliament, he said the Prime Minister has understood that he cannot push farmers, after the agrarians showed their strength.
“We have not even showed 10 per cent of the strength of farmers of India. And the Prime Minister suddenly understood that he cannot push the farmers of this country,” he said.
Addressing a rally here during his foot march, he said, “The unwritten promise, the promise that the Prime Minister did not tell was that he has told his friends that he would take land away from the farmers.”
“The Congress took a stand in Parliament and will not let the Prime Minister take away land of farmers that easily. The Congress and the farmers of this country decided to show a little bit of their power to the Prime Minister,” Rahul, who is on a 10 km-long ‘padyatra’ from a village in the district to highlight the issues faced by farmers and women Self-Help Groups, said.
The Congress Vice President also said the Prime Minister has changed his mind after the fight of farmers, which was fought by the Congress.
“The Congress fought for farmers. We fought with the Government and Prime Minister. And the Prime Minister and the government have changed their mind about the land bill,” he said, adding that the Congress was not scared of anybody.
He also charged that the Prime Minister did not want to accord Special Status to Andhra Pradesh.
“The same way the Prime Minister wanted to take land away from the farmers, he wants to take Polavaram and Special Status away from people of this State,” he charged.
The Congress leader also attacked Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led Government and opposition YSRCP for not “fighting” for Special Status for the State and Polavaram project.
“I can fully understand the intention of the Prime Minister. But, what I do not understand is the intention of the Chief Minister of this State and other party. I do not understand why these parties do not fight for special status. I do not understand why these two parties do not fight for Polavaram,” he added.
The Congress, he said, was fully committed to the Special Status for Andhra Pradesh and the Polavaram project.
Rahul said the Prime Minister came to power with the “support of people who wanted to change the Land Bill enacted by the UPA government,” but he has now understood the power of Congress and farmers.
“When Mr Modi came to power…He came to power on the back of (support of) people who wanted to change the Land Bill,” he said.
The Prime Minister, Rahul said, was under the impression that he could easily take away the land from the farmers and change the Bill.
“He (Modi) said in Parliament he will carry out development on the back of farmers’ land,” he said.
“The Congress took a stand in Parliament and we decided that we are not going to let the Prime Minister take land of Indian farmers that easily,” he said.
He said the NDA government decided to change the Land Bill enacted by UPA in 2013.
“The crux of the Land Bill that we brought was that farmers should be asked their permission before the land is taken away from them. Our Bill ensured that politicians and their big businessmen friends could not just take away land from farmers,” Rahul said.
“The Bill enacted by UPA also ensured that those who work in farms (labourers) would also get a share. The Bill also said that industrialists who take away land of government…If they do not use it within five years, that land goes back to farmers,” the Congress leader said. (PTI)
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