New Delhi:
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has submitted its dissent report to the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Land Acquisition Bill, stating that "government should withdraw the bill".
Trinamool Congress, which has 34 seats in the Lok Sabha, had supported the government on several crucial bills, including the proposed Goods and Services Tax or the GST bill. But this time, it is the first party to state that the NDA government should withdraw the contentious bill.
The Biju Janata Dal or BJD led by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too has written to the chairman of the committee, BJP Lawmaker, SS Ahluwalia. However, it's not clear if the party has asked for a complete withdrawal of the bill or for inclusion of the consent and the social impact assessment clauses as enacted in the law passed during the UPA regime.
The Congress and the Left, who have also opposed the bill, are likely to give their objections in writing on Monday. Given the strong opposition to the bill, the Centre has already proposed that the state governments should be able to make their "own land acquisition" laws.
However, for such a proposal to take shape, the government will have to make amendments to the bill that is currently being examined by the Joint Committee which is scheduled to complete its work by the first week of August.