The government has made significant changes in the controversial Land Acquisition Bill as it seeks to garner support from an Opposition which has opposed it as being "anti-farmer". The Bill, seen as key to the Narendra Modi government's reform agenda, will be taken up for voting today in the Lok Sabha.
The government today moved nine amendments, including deleting social infrastructure projects from a list of exempted categories.
On Monday, the Congress decided that it would vote against the bill unless it was sent to a Parliamentary Committee or was presented in the original form as passed in 2013 when it led the UPA government at the Centre.
The government's ally, Shiv Sena kept it on tenterhooks as it declared on Monday evening that it had not decided which way it would vote on the crucial bill in the Lok Sabha. "We have given our suggestions to the Prime Minister in writing. We will act according to the direction of party chief Uddhav Thackeray," Sena leader Sanjay Raut told PTI, indicating that the Bill in its present form was not acceptable to the party.
The Shiv Sena is the second largest constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA - it has 18 members in the Lower House and three in the Rajya Sabha.
While the BJP is not worried about numbers in the Lower House, it has almost the entire opposition ranged against the legislation and will struggle to pass it in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.
The Congress and other parties have accused the Narendra Modi government of making "pro-corporate" and "anti-farmers" changes in the law to acquire land for projects.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis - who has several Shiv Sena members in his council of ministers - were reportedly tasked with reaching out to the Sena leadership to seek the ally's support. The Sena and another ally, Akali Dal have pointed that the bill was being seen as "anti-farmer" and it was important to remove that perception.
The Modi government has also reached out to parties like the Biju Janata Dal for support. Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Delhi on Monday and sources said the Centre is ready to accept the party's demands on other bills and is studying its suggestions on the land bill.
On Monday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek financial assistance from the Centre for her cash-strapped state amid speculation that the PM would use it as an ice-breaker. Ms Banerjee ruled out the support of her Trinamool Congress for the land bill.The attempt to get regional parties on board is part of the NDA's strategy to isolate the Congress and the Left Front and push through the bills in the Upper House. In the last session, several bills, including the land bill, were blocked by a united opposition.
The proposed land reforms -seen as key for the government's economic agenda -were introduced in December as an ordinance or decree which will lapse if it is not approved by this session of Parliament.
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