Congress plans statewide protest against land pooling policy, Mohali dharna today

AAP says reaching retired to farmers against Oppn’s ‘misleading’ campaign

Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Punjab Congress chief. File

The Punjab Congress connected Sunday decided to motorboat a statewide agitation against the AAP government’s onshore pooling policy, opening with a large dharna successful Mohali tomorrow.

According to enactment leaders, the program includes a bid of rallies crossed Punjab and governmental congregations successful each colony wherever the authorities is expected to get onshore nether the initiative.

The Mohali lawsuit is the 2nd large programme being held by the Congress successful caller days aft a rally successful Ludhiana, wherever a monolithic 24,000 acres of agriculture onshore is acceptable to beryllium acquired nether the initiative.

Reacting to it, state’s ruling AAP accused Opposition parties of misleading farmers.

“To antagonistic the misleading campaign, AAP is reaching retired to farmers and the villagers acrophobic to explicate benefits of the argumentation nether which determination volition beryllium forcible acquisition,” said AAP spokesperson Neel Garg.

Soon aft its motorboat successful May this year, the argumentation has faced governmental backlash. Farmer outfits excessively person decided to motorboat a state-wide disturbance against it from July 30 aft Opposition parties extended enactment to them.

The cash-strapped authorities truthful acold maintained that the inaugural would spur municipality development, with farmers and landowners getting plots of higher worth than the outgo of existent onshore contributed by them.

Under it, the authorities has planned to get implicit 65,000 acres, which volition beryllium utilised to make townships adjacent respective cities, including concern centre Ludhiana.

The argumentation envisaged “complete voluntary participation” by landowners.

However, the strategy faced disapproval arsenic the Congress, BJP and the SAD accused the authorities of colluding with developers to deprive farmers of their fertile land.

They alleged that it would effect successful large-scale corruption, with ruling AAP leaders making wealth retired of the acquisition process.

‘An effort to flight compensation norms’

Commenting implicit the issue, authorities Congress main Amrinder Raja Warring connected Sunday said his enactment would signifier sit-ins astatine each places wherever the authorities announced to get land.

Warring said the authorities intended to flight its responsibilities nether the pro-farmer Land Acquisition Act that was enacted by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance authorities successful 2013.

“Under that law, the authorities is bound to wage 1 and a fractional times the marketplace worth of the land, on with rehabilitation compensation and resettlement arrangements,” helium said.

Warring alleged that done the onshore pooling policy, the authorities aimed to “grab onshore of farmers without spending a penny successful compensation, lone to merchantability it to backstage companies and fulfil its populist promises successful the past twelvemonth of its term”.

Senior Congress person and erstwhile curate Balbir Singh Sidhu said the enactment would request a rollback of the “anti-farmer policy”.

He said isolated from the Warring and the person of the Opposition successful the authorities Assembly —Partap Singh Bajwa — respective enactment MPs and MLAs would enactment successful the Mohali event.

Meeting connected Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll today

The authorities Congress main has called a gathering of enactment leaders from Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts to sermon shortlisting of probable candidates for the Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll, necessitated by the decease of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal. The Election Commission is yet to state the docket of the Assembly bypoll.