Akalis, BJP strike discordant notes

Jupinderjit Singh & Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Delhi, March 3

Some members of the Punjab BJP executive went into a huddle today following a resolution passed by the Shiromani Akali Dal in Delhi opposing the Land Acquisition Bill being tabled by the NDA government in Parliament. BJP state unit chief Kamal Sharma, cabinet Minister Anil Joshi and two other MLAs met today and reportedly discussed the Akali position on the controversial legislation.

The opposition by Akali Dal to the Bill puts the coalition partners in the state in a fix ahead of the cabinet meeting due tomorrow in Chandigarh. The meeting remained inconclusive as the BJP leaders felt the Akali position was still unclear, party sources said.

In Delhi, SAD today formally opposed the Bill in principle, but remained silent on its stand in Parliament. An emergency meeting of the SAD core committee, attended by party patron and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, passed a resolution saying the party would oppose acquisition of land without the consent of farmers/owners.

The SAD, however, hastened to add that the party’s floor strategy on the Bill would be decided by its Parliamentary Board.

The Bill has been questioned in various quarters for exempting certain categories of land acquisitions from the “consent” clause.

The resolution says: “The SAD has decided to oppose land acquisition without the express consent of a majority of the farmers/land owners whose land is to be acquired.”

The party also decided that the land should only be acquired for public purpose and the government should not get into acquisition for private entities. The meeting was presided over SAD president and Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and was also attended by Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur. Those who attended the meeting include Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Naresh Gujral, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Sher Singh Ghubaya.

The party said farmers should not be denied the right to approach court for a redress. The party has suggested the Union government follow the Punjab land acquisition policy that gives land owners an option to either accept adequate monetary compensation as per the prevailing market value of the land acquired plus displacement allowance; or become a shareholder in the proposed project on the land in question.

The party wants the Centre give states a free hand for fixing the market price of the land to be acquired, and that the price should be accepted for all acquisitions, regardless of whether done for a state government or the Centre. On SAD’s stand in Parliament, Media Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister HS Bains said: “The meeting was only to firm up party’s stand on the issue and make suggestions to the Union government.”