Shanta anti-farmer: CPM

Shimla, January 18

CPM leaders Kuldip Tanwar and Prem Gautam today lambasted Kangra senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP Shanta Kumar’s statement against the regularisation of encroachments of small and marginal farmers, stating that his statement has exposed the double face of the BJP on this issue.

Reacting to his statement, Tanwar and Gautam alleged that it was the BJP government which amended and passed HP Regularisation of Encroachments (in certain cases) on Govt. Land and Disposal of Govt. land Rules & 2002, which was published in Rajpatra on July 2, 2002, during the Dhumal regime.

Under this law, the government had made provisions to regularise five to 20 bighas of land, they claimed. But Shanta’s statement opposing the government’s recent proposal to regularise 10 bighas of land of small and marginal farmers had exposed the BJP. The BJP was always anti-farmers and Shanta’s statement has substantiated it, they charged. — TNS