Leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Politburo member Brinda Karat has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of encouraging Chief Ministers of various States to circumvent the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, after his attempts to amend the Act in Parliament fell through.
Addressing the ‘Maha Dharna’ organised by the ‘Telangana Bhoonirvasithula Porata Committee’ on Tuesday against forcible land acquisition under GO 123 for various projects in Telangana, Ms. Karat said the Land Act defended the rights of farmers, peasants, and the landless poor only to some extent, but Mr. Modi wanted to dilute even those provisions through the proposed amendments.
“Though Mr. Modi liked to call himself the ‘Pradhan Sevak’ of India, he knew that he was the ‘Pradhan Sevak’ of Corporates of India, the rich of India and real estate mafia of India,” she said, adding that since he failed to get the ordinance through, he resorted to the backdoor strategy of getting his brief done through Chief Ministers, his “junior partners.”
BJP-ruled States such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand had already amended the law diluting the rights of farmers and Adivasis and, now, the Telangana government under Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was acting as a representative of Mr. Modi.
Calling Mr. Rao the only Chief Minister who turned the police on voters of his own constituency, Ms. Karat condemned the lathi-charge on Mallannasagar protestors as “shameful”, “dictatorial” and “authoritarian.” Castigating him for trying to “build a wall of police around his constituency,” she demanded compensation for the victims and action against police officials responsible for the action.
