Mayawati rules out joining Congress' Land Bill protest

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on Tuesday made it clear that her party would not be joining the Congress' protest against the NDA government's Land Acquisition Bill as it will lead to a political backlash for the party in Uttar Pradesh .

"BSP will not be a part of the All Party protest against land bill. We are not against the agenda of protest but we are not joining this protest out of the party's interest," said Maywati.

"We are not joining this protest because it is headed by Sonia Gandhi and this can lead to a political backlash in our state," she added.

Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh are likely to lead a march later in the day, starting from the Parliament House to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, to protest against the bill.

Earlier this month, the Lok Sabha passed The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 amid a walkout by opposition parties even as the government moved nine amendments to address concerns raised by farmers.

Shiv Sena, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, abstained during the voting.

The proposed legislation removes the need for obtaining consent of land-owners and carrying out social impact assessment (SIA) for acquiring land under certain categories-precisely the provisions which had raised the heckles of critics.

The bill faces a tough call in the Rajya Sabha where the government is in a minority.

It will replace an ordinance promulgated by the government in December last year which amended the earlier law passed by theCongress-led UPA in 2013.

Opposition parties have united over the contentious bill, claiming that it is an anti-farmer legislation.

Leaders of these parties are expected to submit a memorandum against the new land bill to President Pranab Mukherjee.