GURGAON: BJP senior leader Rajnath Singh did aRahul Gandhi on the Congress-led government in Haryana on Friday after he went on a "padyatra" in three villages of Gurgaon.
Singh visited Ullahwas, Berhampur and Ghata on Friday morning to add political flavour to the recent upheaval by farmers who are protesting against forceful land acquisition by the government. Singh met villagers and listened to their grievances and finally concluded that the state was "unfair in exempting the five acres of land leased out to theRajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust". The Opposition leader said he will support the cause of farmers and demanded that the state must make provisions to give jobs to at least one member of a family whose lands have been acquired. However, surprisingly Rajnath refrained from attacking the Haryana chief minister directly all during the three-hour-long "padyatra".
"The land has been given away to the Rajiv Gandhi Trust at a low rate despite the fact that the state had notified Section 4 on that land. The land was forcefully taken away by the government by having the panchayat sign on documents. Any land-owner/farmer who has to part with his land should be given a share in the development activities and be given a government job.
I am not against any trust or an NGO but the manner in which the state favoured them is unfair," Singh said. He added that his party had been insisting that the revised land acquisition bill be tabled at the earliest but "the state has been avoiding it since 2004". Singh arrived at Ullahwas a little past 11am where instead of addressing the waiting mahapanchayat, he went straight to the area to se the five acres of land cordoned off for construction of the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre.
While the villagers waited for Singh to address them, he made a dash for adjoining Berhampur where villagers briefed him about the "rampant land acquisition" which has increased in the past couple of years. When Singh was asked to explain a similar incident where the BJP had "gifted" around three acres of land to make People for Animals hospital between the years 1996-99, Singh dodged the question and said he had no details or knowledge of the incident. "If it is true, we (BJP) will certainly look into the matter," he said. The next halt was at Ghata village after walking close to 5km, where he addressed the village gathering and said that he was "shocked to see the sorry state of affairs of villagers"."I have never come across a state where land deals, both sale/purchase or leasing was possible after the government has shown the intent to acquire.
We are all for the villagers and will not hesitate to hire the topmost lawyers if need be so as to get justice for the affected owners," said Singh, who was applauded by the gathering. He added, "We want a judicial inquiry into the matter as to how land was taken away for a trust. We do not want the inquiry to be conducted by a retired judge of the Supreme Court but a sitting judge." Singh also pointed to other incidents which pointed out the "favouritism and partiality" of the state to individuals/companies. Taking a dig at the Congress government in the Centre, Singh said that the latter has been sitting on the land acquisition bill since 2007. "Although we have been raising this issue in each session, we have demanded that the bill be passed by the end of this session. However from what I hear, they have planned to sit on it this time as well and it seems difficult that it gets passed," said Singh.
Singh visited Ullahwas, Berhampur and Ghata on Friday morning to add political flavour to the recent upheaval by farmers who are protesting against forceful land acquisition by the government. Singh met villagers and listened to their grievances and finally concluded that the state was "unfair in exempting the five acres of land leased out to theRajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust". The Opposition leader said he will support the cause of farmers and demanded that the state must make provisions to give jobs to at least one member of a family whose lands have been acquired. However, surprisingly Rajnath refrained from attacking the Haryana chief minister directly all during the three-hour-long "padyatra".
"The land has been given away to the Rajiv Gandhi Trust at a low rate despite the fact that the state had notified Section 4 on that land. The land was forcefully taken away by the government by having the panchayat sign on documents. Any land-owner/farmer who has to part with his land should be given a share in the development activities and be given a government job.
I am not against any trust or an NGO but the manner in which the state favoured them is unfair," Singh said. He added that his party had been insisting that the revised land acquisition bill be tabled at the earliest but "the state has been avoiding it since 2004". Singh arrived at Ullahwas a little past 11am where instead of addressing the waiting mahapanchayat, he went straight to the area to se the five acres of land cordoned off for construction of the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre.
While the villagers waited for Singh to address them, he made a dash for adjoining Berhampur where villagers briefed him about the "rampant land acquisition" which has increased in the past couple of years. When Singh was asked to explain a similar incident where the BJP had "gifted" around three acres of land to make People for Animals hospital between the years 1996-99, Singh dodged the question and said he had no details or knowledge of the incident. "If it is true, we (BJP) will certainly look into the matter," he said. The next halt was at Ghata village after walking close to 5km, where he addressed the village gathering and said that he was "shocked to see the sorry state of affairs of villagers"."I have never come across a state where land deals, both sale/purchase or leasing was possible after the government has shown the intent to acquire.
We are all for the villagers and will not hesitate to hire the topmost lawyers if need be so as to get justice for the affected owners," said Singh, who was applauded by the gathering. He added, "We want a judicial inquiry into the matter as to how land was taken away for a trust. We do not want the inquiry to be conducted by a retired judge of the Supreme Court but a sitting judge." Singh also pointed to other incidents which pointed out the "favouritism and partiality" of the state to individuals/companies. Taking a dig at the Congress government in the Centre, Singh said that the latter has been sitting on the land acquisition bill since 2007. "Although we have been raising this issue in each session, we have demanded that the bill be passed by the end of this session. However from what I hear, they have planned to sit on it this time as well and it seems difficult that it gets passed," said Singh.
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