The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday staged a protest against the recently passed Land Ordinance Act, terming it 'draconian' and vowed not to allow its implementation.
"We will protest and fight upto the last and we will not allow the Central Government to implement this draconian law," TMC leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay told ANI in Kolkata.
The TMC leader also accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of bypassing the Parliament at the conclusion of its winter session.
The protest was led by the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), the trade arm of the TMC. The demonstrators shouted angry slogans against the government's decision and burnt symbolic copies of the ordinance to lodge their protest.
The TMC also took out a similar protest march in Siliguri.
The protest staged by the TMC comes after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday termed the ordinance as a 'black ordinance' and had urged the people to burn symbolic copies of it.
Announcing the Union Cabinet's decision on Monday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the ordinance intends to make a fair balance between the interest of farmers and industry.
The new law, which will come into effect from January 1, 2015, will see the owners of land acquired via laws exempted under the act being eligible for a similar compensation.
The ordinance is being brought as the government failed to amend as many as 13 central legislations to bring their rehabilitation and resettlement and compensation provisions at par with those of the new Land Acquisition Act for buying land across the country.
