'PM Modi Misleading Farmers on Land Bill', Says Activist Anna Hazare

Jalandhar:

Unimpressed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's contentions on Sunday's 'Mann ki Baat' programme, social activist Anna Hazare accused him of "misleading" farmers on the Land Acquisition Bill.

"PM Modi has been misleading the farmers over the Land Acquisition Bill," the 77-year-old anti-corruption activist responded to PM Modi's argument that the opposition parties were "misleading" farmers.

Mr Hazare said Modi PM was watching others with "coloured glasses" and "the Bill itself was misleading."

The activist, who was in Jalandhar to attend a function, said the head of the government ( PM Modi) has been leveling allegations on others for misleading the farmers."

"This bill is not going to help farmers, but the big corporates only," he said.

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If the government's intentions are so clear and it wants to help the farmers then why it did not oppose the Land Acquisition Bill in 2013 presented by the UPA-2, he asked. "Why it has been opposing the Bill now," he said.

Mr Hazare said if the government wants to help the farmers then it should conduct a survey of the categories (A,B ,C) of the land and the land which is not suitable for the agricultural purpose be acquired and not the cultivable land.

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In the 2013 Bill there was provision of taking the consent of farmers, but in this Bill there is no such provision and how it will help farmers, he questioned.

"I wrote the letter to 25 opposition parties of the country to support me in my crusade to save farmers," he said.

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On Congress president Sonia Gandhi's campaign against this Bill, he said, "She was just doing politics and it has nothing to do with the welfare of farmers."

He also alleged that owing to raising "voice against the Land Acquisition Bill, I have started getting threats from Canada and Maharashtra, but I am not afraid of anything and I will fight for the farmers till my last breath."

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Mr Hazare, who is in Punjab, said people of the state are dedicated for the service of humanity, but due to drug menace this dedication has been affected badly.

Mr Hazare visited Ghuman on Sunday, some 40 km away from Gurdaspur. The township is associated with journeys of a 13th century saint from Maharashtra, Namdev.

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He was felicitated by locals in Ghuman, where he vowed to fight for cause of farmers.

The social activist will be at Khatkar Kalan in Nawanshahr district of Punjab today. Khakar Kalan is ancestral village of martyr Bhagat Singh.