New Delhi/ Greater Noida:
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Ajit Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to discuss the unrest over acquisition of farm land in Greater Noida.
Singh was detained by police on Sunday when he was on way to Bhatta Parsaul village in Greater Noida - the epicentre of the farmer protests in Uttar Pradesh.
At least four people died over the weekend and another four were injured in firing between the farmers and local police and administration officials as violence erupted in towns along the Yamuna Expressway that's being constructed from Greater Noida to Agra.
These protests by farmers began first in Greater Noida and then spread to towns like Mathura and Agra. Farmers say the government acquired land from them for the highway project at below-market rates. They say the same land is now being resold at huge mark-ups for commercial projects like malls.
"I met the Prime Minister regarding the Land Acquisition bill and reminded him that he had made a promise in October last year itself regarding the passage of the bill. The Prime Minister has told me that the bill will definitely be brought before Parliament in the next session," Singh said after a half-an-hour long meeting with the Prime Minister.
Attacking Mayawati government on the issue, he said five incidents of firing at farmers have taken place in Uttar Pradesh in the last over four years of BSP's rule. "I told the Prime Minister that farmers' precious land is being taken over by corporates at throwaway prices in Uttar Pradesh and that should be stopped," he said.
The RLD chief also said that even if the land amendment bill was passed, "this problem is not going to be solved if a government like the one headed by Mayawati comes to power in any state."
The opposition has come down hard on the Mayawati government as the protests spread.
(Watch: Farmers' land protest gets political)"If I were Mayawati, I would have resigned by now," said BJP's Rajnath Singh on Monday as he was detained by the police while attempting to reach Bhatta Parsaul village. Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav, brother of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, was also detained along with him.
(Land wars: A village terrorized)"This land was hurriedly acquired at gunpoint from farmers. The Chief Minister is responsible for what is happening," said Mulayam Singh. The Congress also rose to the occasion. "The greed of Mayawati has overtaken her sensible decisions. The whole government is up for grabs for those who have the money to spend and who have the capacity to fill the personal coffers of the Chief Minister," alleged the party's General Secretary, Digvijaya Singh.
The 165-kilometre long Yamuna Expressway was originally meant to be completed by October. The company that's been contracted to build the highway - Jaypee -says that it acquired land for the project two years ago and that all compensation for farmers was settled peacefully. Jaypee says that the farmers are protesting over the land acquired by a government body - the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. (With PTI inputs)