Letters: The land Bill saga

This refers to Aditi Phadnis' column "Singh's silence on land acquisition" (Plain Politics, March 28). Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh's continued silence on the land acquisition Bill - even risking the anger of his Prime Minister, Narendra Modi - only shows that he certainly sees something fishy in it. But his political boss has made it a prestigious issue to bring in the legislation, either through Parliament or an ordinance. Singh has even painted himself into a corner on this Bill as other Union ministers, such as Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari, have expressed their support for all to see.

So far, it seems that farmers have not been swayed by the increased compensation and the lofty promises of job opportunities close to home to surrender their land. For farmers, what (land) is in their hand is better than what (jobs, compensation and so on) is being dangled before them.

Only time will tell whether Modi has his way on this Bill. But one thing is very clear that sooner or later, Singh will have to pay a heavy price for not being on the same wavelength as Modi.

Tarsem Singh Hoshiarpur

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