Samajwadi Party (SP) leader in the Rajya Sabha, Naresh Agrawal, said his party was not against the changes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to bring in the land acquisition Bill.
"We recently started constructing a 300-km expressway from Lucknow to Agra and we are concerned about the farmers whose interests have not been protected by the land acquisition Bill. If the National Democratic Alliance government takes care of our concerns, we can reconsider," Agrawal told Business Standard.
"We joined the march against the the land Bill not because of (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi but because we were not happy with it. We realise the importance of development. That is why we supported the government on the coal and mines Bills," he added.
The party's concerns on the Bill are over consent needed from farmers before acquiring their land, removal of the social impact assessment clause, whether compensation will be determined on market rate or circle rate and employment for those who lose their livelihood. The party has 15 members in the Rajya Sabha, enough to influence the outcome of the vote.
THE NUMBERS
Who stands where on the amended land acquisition Bill in the Rajya Sabha
The nays: Bahujan Samaj Party (10); Communist Party of India (2); Communist Party of India (Marxist) (9); Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (4); Congress (68); Janata Dal (Secular) (1); Janata Dal (United) (12); Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (1); Kerala Congress Mani (1); Rashtriya Janata Dal (1); Trinamool Congress (12) Total: 121
The ayes: ADMK (11); BJP (47); Bodoland People's Front (1); Independents (7); Indian National Lok Dal (1); JK People's Democratic Party (2); Nationalist Congress Party (6); Nominated (10); Nagaland People's Front (1); Republican Party of India Athawale (1); Shiromani Akali Dal (3); Sikkim Democratic Front (1); Shiv Sena (3); Telugu Desam Party (6); Telangana Rashtra Samiti (1) Total: 101
The maybes: Biju Janata Dal (7); Samajwadi Party (15) Total: 22
