Land Acquisition Bill passed by Lok Sabha;Test will be Tough in Rajya Sabha

The Lok Sabha has passed the government’s Land Bill, which now faces its real test in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of Parliament where the government is in a minority. The government moved nine amendments as it sought to break a political deadlock.

The Lok Sabha, where the Modi government has a big majority, passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 by voice vote. The bill seeks to ratify an ordinance or emergency executive order.

The changes it made to the bill persuaded most of the government’s allies to vote in its favour, including the Akali Dal which said its reservations had been addressed by the amendments. But ally Shiv Sena abstained from voting.

The Congress and other Opposition parties walked out before the bill was voted on. The Congress has said it will agree to no changes in the 2013 law the previous government brought without those being referred to a parliamentary committee.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had walked out earlier. But the BJD also withdrew three amendments it had sought, accepting the government’s amendments. A similar walkout in the Rajya Sabha will help the government.

But the chances of the government getting its land reforms passed in the Rajya Sabha seem bleak, with even ally Shiv Sena remaining a worry. The Opposition has an overwhelming majority in the Rajya Sabha and every vote will count for the government.

While moving the bill for consideration, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh said the government has already incorporated several suggestions – many of them offered by the Opposition – and was willing to accept any more suggestions of the Opposition if those were in the interest of farmers.

The government says the proposed land reforms balance the rights of farmers with the urgent need to provide land for projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Failure to pass the law in both houses would lead the executive order or ordinance, to lapse when the current session of Parliament ends.

That could open the way for PM Modi to convene a rare joint session of Parliament, where his coalition would have a majority on paper, to pass the land law. But BJP strategists caution that the joint session route could cause political friction to escalate both inside and outside Parliament.

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Source:Ndtvnews