New Delhi:
It seems to be all over for the Modi government's ambitious land acquisition bill, which it was pushing till last year as a key legislation to boost economic activity by relaxing norms for acquiring land for industrial and infrastructure projects.
The government is all set to withdraw the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the Budget session that begins today, sources told NDTV.
The Modi government has faced much fire from the opposition and also allies and organisations affiliated to the BJP for attempting to amend the previous Congress government's flagship 2013 land law. The move was slammed as "anti-farmer" by the opposition, led by a belligerent Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
The BJP's allies too said that the new bill dilutes pro-farmer elements in the law enacted by the Congress-led UPA.
Amid the heat, the government had as a compromise sent the bill to a joint committee of both houses of Parliament headed by the BJP's SS Ahluwalia; it was to submit a report in the last winter session but kept seeking more time.
The government realised that passing the bill in the upper house or the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority, would be mission impossible. It repromulgated an ordinance or executive order on land acquisition, but even let that lapse eventually as it readied for a tough election in Bihar.
The BJP assesses that the opposition's successful campaign against the land bill hit the party's fortunes in Bihar as the farmer vote drifted away. The BJP suffered a humiliating defeat in Bihar in November last year. Since then, the NDA government has changed tack and started focusing on farmer distress in the midst of a drought.
The Prime Minister has already addressed two farmer rallies in Chhattisgarh and Odisha and two more are scheduled in big states Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
While the government moved to withdraw its land bill in Parliament, it has asked state governments to push through amendments to their own laws to simply land acquisition.