BJP likely to support land acquisition Bill

BJP is more or less convinced that the UPA has accepted most of the recommendations of the Standing Committee

Even as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is facing stiff resistance from the Opposition on financial legislations in banking and insurance sectors, it is likely to get support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on another crucial Bill — the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill. This is because the BJP is more or less convinced that the UPA has accepted most of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan.

Although BJP leaders remain non-committal on the issue of extending support, they are pleased that major recommendations of the committee have been incorporated in the Bill. For the record, however, the BJP maintains that it would first discuss the Bill with members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and other political parties before taking a final decision.

“The government has incorporated all the important recommendations given by the Parliamentary committee, including involvement of panchayats and taking the views of a majority of people who will be losing their land. The Standing Committee had suggested the consent of 80 per cent people,” said a senior BJP leader, adding that the Bill has also incorporated their suggestion on tribals’ rights.

The Cabinet cleared the land Bill on Thursday and decided that the consent of at least 70 per cent of land owners will be needed for public-private partnership (PPP) projects, while 80 per cent consent would be needed for private projects. Earlier, a GoM (group of ministers) had suggested that the consent of two-third (66.67 per cent) of land losers would suffice for PPP projects.

BJP leaders said that they were not pleased with the definition of “public purpose” in the Bill. However, they added that they were ready to discuss the issue on the floor of the House, when it comes for discussion.

The BJP is also pleased with the fact the government has talked about policy for acquiring agricultural land in the LARR Bill, and not just multi-crop land as proposed earlier.

“The Parliamentary committee had recommended that the policy should also include single-crop land and not just multi-crop land,” said the senior BJP leader.