Cong plans rally against land ordinance in Bhatta Parsaul

With the Congress deciding on a series of agitations against the land ordinance, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh will attend a farmers' meeting on January 14 in Uttar Pradesh's Bhatta Parsaul village from where Rahul Gandhi had launched a protest against farm land acquisition in 2011.
Ramesh, a former Union Rural Development Minister, will attend the farmers' meeting, along with former Union minister Pradeep Jain Aditya, in Bhatta Parsaul in Greater Noida on Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) spokesperson Dhirendra Singh said in a statement.
Congress has been alleging that the ordinance promulgated the government takes away the powers given to the farmers by the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, enacted by the UPA-II government in 2013.

This act was a brainchild of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and his agitation at Bhatta Parsaul had led to the formulation of the legislation, providing better compensation to farmers and giving them a say in the land acquisition process.
"Matters concerning the lives of millions of farmers in this country cannot and should not be decided by a mere ordinance... The land ordinance aims to avoid taking consent of the farmers and refuse them a say in the process," the UPCC spokesperson said.
Ramesh is part of the three-member group set up the party to finalise its strategy on the land ordinance issue. The other two members are former Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Food Minister K V Thomas.

The three leaders had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi a few days ago and briefed her about the agitation plans.
A meeting of the Congress Working Committee has also been called tomorrow to discuss the land ordinance issue, along with other political matters.