'Fin Min has assured no wealth tax on agricultural land'

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has assured party MPs from the north that there will be no levy of wealth tax on agricultural land, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said today.
Hooda led a delegation of Congress MPs from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to the Finance Minister seeking his intervention on the issue of proposed imposition of wealth tax on agricultural land.
"The Finance Minister has assured us that there will be no levy of wealth tax on agricultural land and we are satisfied with his assurance," Hooda told reporters after meeting Chidambaram.
He said that the confusion over wealth tax on agriculture has been clarified.

"We said that wealth tax should not be levied on agricultural land. Chidambaram has assured that the UPA government has a policy that there will not be any wealth tax on agricultural land."
Hooda said the Finance Minister will bring suitable amendments in Parliament. "He has assured that UPA has a policy that there will not be any wealth tax on agricultural land," the Haryana Chief Minister said.

Hooda along with Punjab Congress President Pratap Singh Bajwa and some party MPs had earlier met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Parliament House over the issue.
While thanking the Finance Minister for his assurance, Hooda also thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for their intervention on the issue.

Bajwa said, "Farmers were very emotional over the issue. The UPA has fulfilled its commitment that wealth tax will not be levied on agricultural land."
He also appealed to the Akali leadership in Punjab to cancel their proposed dharnas and protests against the proposal. "Your attempts to misguide people is now has been proven wrong," he said.