Congress chief Sonia Gandhi watches as Lok Sabha debates the Land Bill
Sonia Gandhi had just been greeted by the thumping of desks as she attended Lok Sabha for the first time since Monday night, when Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee nearly came to blows with the Left's Basudev Acharya during a debate on the Land Acquisition Bill today.
Senior leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and minister Jairam Ramesh had to rush to break up what had the makings of a fist fight.
The debate was marked by the absence of Rahul Gandhi, who is seen as the chief patron of the Bill, which, like the Food Bill, is seen as a potential vote-getter for the Congress. Mr Gandhi, second only to his mother Sonia in the party, was in the Lok Sabha only for a brief spell today.
When the Food Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha earlier this week, Sonia Gandhi, who has championed that welfare scheme, made a rare speech and sat through the entire debate despite being unwell. She was taken to hospital before the House voted.
The Land Acquisition Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha with overwhelming majority today, seeks to retire a century-old land acquisition law and proposes that up to four times the market value should be paid to farmers and landowners for land acquired in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas. India's Industry says these provisions are too costly.
During the debate today, Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party lends crucial external support to the central government said he opposed any move to acquire land from farmers. BJP president Rajnath Singh enumerated what he said were several shortcomings with the Bill.
Rahul Gandhi brought attention to the land acquisition struggle when he took up cudgels on behalf of farmers in the Bhatta Parsaul agitation of Greater Noida.