New version of land Bill to reach Lok Sabha next week

The government is thinking of getting an amended land acquisition Bill through the Lok Sabha between Monday and Wednesday.

A Bill amending the 2013 law has already been passed by the House, before stalling in the Rajya Sabha, where the governing alliance is in a minority. The Rs decided to have an all-party panel to scrutinise the changes.

This committee, chaired by a ruling party senior, S S Ahluwalia, is yet to give its report; this is only expected on Monday, while the current Parliament session is to conclude on Wednesday.

Ruling party sources said the idea was to have the government decide on the compromise amendments, based on the panel's report, between Monday and Wednesday and to have the Bill in this regard sped through as fast as possible. That leaves the Rajya Sabha, stalled from the outset by a united opposition, and where the Congress says it is determined nothing will pass.

The Rajya Sabha panel has, by and large, come to a consensus on all the contentious issues. It was to have a final meeting this week but opposition members wanted a postponement.

That meeting is to be held on Monday, after which the government hopes to fast-track the Bill. It is, opposition din notwithstanding, confident of passage somehow, given its majority in the Lok Sabha. What happens in the Rajya Sabha, where the Congress has instructed its members to be present in full strength to ensure nothing passes, remains to be seen.

In fact, so apprehensive was the Congress of the "tricks up their sleeve" of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha that it would attempt to pass legislation amidst ruckus that the Congress issued a whip to its MPs in the Rajya Sabha on Friday to ensure they were present in full strength. The Congress enjoys numerical strength in the upper house.