At a high-level meeting on Monday evening, the Congress party decided to go ahead with a mass rally against the NDA government’s amended Land Bill to cash in on the success it had when Ms Gandhi led a procession of 14 political parties from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhawan recently to protest against the changes to the 2013 law.
The fractious debate on the land acquisition law has put the BJP on the back foot, even forcing Prime Minister Modi to devote an entire episode of his MannKi Baat address on national radio to hard sell the changes recently.
The Monday evening meeting at the AICC headquarters was chaired by former union defence minister A.K. Antony and attended by the party’s central office-bearers, Congress Legislature Party leaders, and state chiefs.
Ms Gandhi, however, was not present at the meeting but party sources confirmed that she would address the rally. Party chief ministers and state leaders are expected to participate in the rally. The second segment of the Budget Session is due to commence on April 20. By holding a mass rally a day ahead at the Ram Lila grounds here, the Congress is setting the stage for another face-off with the BJP by spotlighting its opposition to the government’s version of the controversial Land Bill.
The Congress’s announcement comes in the wake of the Modi government proroguing the Rajya Sabha to enable it to re-promulgate the Land Ordinance after failing to muster enough support in Parliament to pass the Bill that would have replaced the ordinance.
It also comes amidst the BJP’s parliamentary managers trying to mobilise support for the government’s changes among the regional parties, and the Janata Parivar’s plans to organise a countrywide protest against this legislation.
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