DMK Chief Karunanidhi to Centre: No Guns or Cannons Can Stop Land Bill Protests

Chennai:

DMK chief M Karunanidhi said today that "no guns or even cannons" can stop those protesting the land bill. "What will happen if people all over the country erupt in protest?  Keep all the jails open," said the 90-year-old Mr. Karunanidhi, leading a DMK protest rally in Chennai today.

He also wondered how the Centre - which the DMK isn't part of --could enact the land bill when the entire opposition is against it.

Mr Karunanidhi is leading his party's protest against the bill in Chennai today. His party, the DMK, which is in the opposition in Tamil Nadu as well, says the Narendra Modi government's removal of an earlier, mandatory clause in the bill that sought at least 70-80 percent consent by farmers for acquiring their land is "anti-farmer." The earlier bill that included this clause was passed by the previous UPA government that the DMK was part of.

Only yesterday, union minister Nitin Gadkari said he has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, activist Anna Hazare and others opposed to the government's land reforms, suggesting an open debate on the bill "on any platform." And in a big show of opposition unity, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and members of 14 other opposition parties marched from parliament House to the Rashtrapati Bhawan against the land acquisition bill.  

The DMK has no members in the present Lok Sabha but will be contesting state elections in Tamil Nadu next year. Observers said today's protests could be part of an exercise to woo farmers for next year's Assembly elections.  The AIADMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, supported the amendments to the bill in the Lok Sabha.

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Today Mr. Karunanidhi said the AIADMK is supporting the land bill to cover up corruption charges. "(AIADMK chief) Jayalalithaa supports this because her government requires the BJP's support for something, that's why we suspect she supports it," said Rajathi Salma, a protestor from the DMK Women's Wing.