BSP threatens to disrupt monsoon session

The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh today threatened to disrupt the coming monsoon session of Parliament, if the Centre failed to table a bill for the new land acquisition policy.

BSP also said that the Centre replicates the new land acquisition policy announced by the UP government on June 2, terming it the most progressive and pro-farmer policy in the country.

Meanwhile, the party criticised the visit of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to Bhatta-Parsaul village in Gautam Budh Nagar district (Greater Noida) today to meet the local farmers. The Congress party is holding a kisan mahapanchayat in the neighbouring Aligarh district on July 9.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi as ‘yuvraj’, the BSP termed his visit as pure theatrics. The party held the Congress responsible for the current plight of farmers, since it had held the reigns of the country and also UP for most parts after independence.

“If the yuvraj of Congress is sincerely concerned about farmers, he should impress upon the Centre to frame pro-farmer policy on the lines of UP,” the party press communiqué added.

Bhatta-Parsaul village was the epicentre of farmers’ agitation over land acquisition and compensation for the Yamuna Expressway in May 2011. In the ensuing violent clashes on May 7 between police and farmers, four, including two policemen were killed.

The incident proved to be a flashpoint between Congress-led UPA and the Mayawati government, with both levelling several charges against each other.

BJP accuses Rahul of ‘two standards’
Accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of following “two standards” of compassion, BJP today sought to know why he did not express similar sentiments after the police crackdown in the capital on supporters of Ramdev.

The party also termed it as an “irony” that while the ruling party attacks the UP government, it seeks BSP’s help in maintaining numerical superiority in Parliament. “We want to understand why his compassion is limited to happenings in UP. Why can’t he display similar compassion in other places, especially Delhi...How can there be two standards of compassion. We want Congress to clarify,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.