Changes made to land bill as desired by CMs: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday criticised the Congress over its opposition to the land acquisition bill, saying his government made changes to the bill as requested by almost all the chief ministers.

"We started considering the land bill after 120 years of its inception and we didn't even discuss it properly for 120 hours. Not only is the Congress responsible for it, but we are too, because we supported the bill," Modi said in an interview to Jagran.

"Since the Lok Sabha election was near and the parliament session was about to end, the United Progressive Alliance took the decision (to bring the bill) in haste," he said.

Modi said when he assumed office in May 2014, most of the chief ministers wrote letters to him about their apprehensions regarding the bill.

"Most of the chief ministers asked me to reconsider the bill," he said.

Modi accepted that it was a failure of his government which could not clear the confusion among farmers and the opposition was successful in spreading propaganda against it.

"Since our government has taken many initiatives for the poor in the last one year, which is going to change the entire scenario of the country, the Congress is trying to term the government 'anti-poor'," Modi said.

"When the Congress was in power for decades, they did nothing. Now after the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, they have not been able to accept their defeat. Our government is working with strong determination and that will change the entire scenario of the country in 5-7 years. This is giving sleepless nights to the Congress," the prime minister said.