RSS outfits, Opposition may unite against land ordinance

Opposition parties, including the newly resurgent Aam Aadmi Party, a slew of people’s movements and even RSS affiliates, have decided to join hands to challenge the Centre on the controversial Land Acquisition Ordinance.

Emboldened by the results of the Delhi Assembly elections, these groups plan to hold protests together in the capital from February 22 to 24, coinciding with the start of the Budget Session of Parliament.

For the ruling NDA, converting the land ordinance into an Act in the Budget Session is a top priority, but with the BJP still short of a majority in the Rajya Sabha, the chances of passing it in its current form look slim.

Playing a key role in mobilising different groups on this critical issue is the Janata Dal (United), now facing a power tussle in its own ranks, which it alleges is being fuelled by the BJP.

On Sunday, JD(U) general secretary K.C. Tyagi dismissed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that he was hopeful of “building a consensus” on the ordinance as he believed in “the maturity of the Rajya Sabha,” where the ruling NDA is in a minority, saying he was “living in a dream world.”

If other parties of the Janata Parivar such as the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal are already on board, so are implacable political rivals, the Trinamool Congress and the Left Parties, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and, of course, the AAP. The Congress, which passed the original Act in the closing year of the United Progressive Alliance dispensation, has declared its opposition to the amendments introduced by the Modi government.

Simultaneously, Gandhian activist Anna Hazare, Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, and K. Govindacharya, a former BJP ideologue-turned-anti-globalisation activist, who is credited with playing a key role in the creation of the India Against Corruption movement, will also be part of these protests.

“I will participate in the massive movement of farmers against the land acquisition ordinance, to be held on February 24 in Delhi,” Mr. Hazare told journalists here.

He may also launch an indefinite agitation on Ramlila Maidan if the Centre fails to withdraw the ordinance, it is learnt.

Meanwhile, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the RSS’s economic wing, that has expressed its opposition to the land ordinance, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the RSS farmers’ body, as well as other farmers’ groups affiliated to other political parties are also slated to join the demonstrations.

The SJM’s spokespersons too have been repeatedly urging the Modi government to keep the interests of the farmers in mind.