Before Sonia, Nitish, Lalu’s Swabhiman rally PM Modi backfoot on Land Bill

Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s “Swabhiman Rally” in Patna today, PM Narendra Modi backfoot on Land Bill in 11th Mann ki Baat.Modi said his government will not moove another ordinance on Land Bill, Controversial land bill to lapse due to the opposition it faced but, but no one should be allowed to mislead the farmers.
He also invited suggestions for reforming the land acquisition law.
“Tomorrow the land bill will lapse and I have agreed to it. Due to the problems the ordinance also has been affected,” the Prime Minister said.
Taking a dig at the opposition Congress which has been fighting the land bill tooth and nail, PM Modi said many rumors have been spread about Land Acquisition Bill which have scared the farmers. “We do not want that… The government is open to any suggestion in the interest of farmers.”
He also underscored the importance the farmers’ voice holds for the government.
“Every voice is important to me but the farmers’ voice is special to me. I assure that Jai Jawan Jai Kiskan is not only a slogan, but a mantra that we will follow,” he said.
Government had distanced itself from the land bill in view of the coming Bihar elections, sources said. The feedback to the government was that the growing perception that the bill was anti-farmer had taken hold in the public mind and that it could prove a liability to the BJP in the coming elections.
The government could not pass the land bill during the monsoon session that ended on August 13.
On Friday, the government issued a statutory order to continue benefits for farmers under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
The statutory order includes 13 Central Acts like National Highway and Railways Acts to extend benefits to those farmers whose land is acquired under the Act, said sources.
The statutory order route was meant to do away with the need to issue the ordinance for a record fourth time.