Top leaders of the Congress are pooling with activists to demonstrate in Delhi today against the government's plans to make land acquisition easier for industry. Missing in action is Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Vice-President, who has committed himself in the past to championing farmers' rights. Mr Gandhi has taken "a leave of absence" for part of this parliamentary session, his party said earlier this week, without commenting on whether he is in India or abroad.
The rally by the Congress today is being held at Jantar Mantar, where activist Anna Hazare and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reunited yesterday after a long estrangement for a combined assault on the government over its land reforms.
The Congress says the government's land reforms are "anti-farmer" and structured entirely to benefit the corporates who they say Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly favours. They have christened today's protest "zameen wapasi" or "land recovery", a stab at the "ghar wapasi" campaign by affiliates of the BJP to convert Christians and Muslims to Hinduism; the exercise has led to sharp criticism of the PM by opponents for allegedly failing to protect religious minorities and uphold secularism.
Top BJP ministers including Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh met with the Prime Minister this morning to discuss their strategy for land acquisition given that dissenters include key allies like the Shiv Sena and the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.
The controversial land reforms - introduced as an ordinance or decree - exempt projects in defence, rural electrification, rural housing and industrial corridors from provisions of a law enacted by the previous Congress party government that mandated the consent of 80 percent of affected landowners for any deal.
The government has also removed the need for companies to conduct a social impact study of such projects, which would involve public hearings.
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