Opposition unites against changes to land acquisition laws, denounces as ‘anti-farmer’

At this, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured the House the government was willing to talk to all parties and he would convey this to PM Narendra Modi.

As the slogans refused to die down, deputy chairman P J Kurien said he would be forced to adjourn the House. “I have to run the show. I am sorry, I feel very sad. I went out of the way to allow members to have their say. I have not allowed discussion on any particular bill,” Kurien said.

Jaitley drew a comparison with the Congress, saying of 639 ordinances promulgated since Independence, 80 per cent were under Congress rule and 70 during Jawaharlal Nehru’s regime. Anand Sharma responded that ordinances under Nehru’s regime were spread over 17 years and under extraordinary circumstances as the country had just been partitioned.

Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said that through the ordinance, the government was “bulldozing and trampling” parliamentary scrutiny because it has an absolute majority. The government, he said, is withdrawing bills from the Rajya Sabha so that they can be passed in a joint sitting. Jaitley rose to say Yadav’s party does not want irrigation projects and rural roads. To this, Yadav responded, “We are farmers. You have not worked in farms, we have,” he said.

JD(U) MP KC Tyagi joined in, “Jo gamlon mein kheti karte hain aur jo kheton mein karte hain unmein antar hai (There is a difference between people who farm for leisure and those who do it for a living). If UPA had not committed mistakes when they introduced the previous bill, you (NDA) would not have been here.”

The BSP’s Mayawati said the BJP had been on board when the UPA brought the bill last time.