This Article is From Mar 17, 2015

Sonia Gandhi to Lead Opposition Protest March on Land Bill

Sonia Gandhi to Lead Opposition Protest March on Land Bill

Policemen stationed along the route of the march.

New Delhi:

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is all set to lead a march of lawmakers from the opposition parties to the Rashtrapati Bhawan against the land acquisition bill.

The march will be attended by members of the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Left Front, DMK, Trinamool Congress and others. At the end of the march, a delegation of lawmakers will meet the President and hand over a memorandum.

The march is part of the Congress offensive on the land bill. On Monday, the party held a protest in Delhi which ended in violence. The police had to use water cannons to control the protesters, who stormed the barricades, insisting on marching towards Parliament.
The protest was a culmination of the march that started earlier this month from Uttar Pradesh's Bhatta-Parsaul -- the flashpoint of the 2011 farmer protests.

Today, police presence has been strengthened along the route to avert any untoward incident.

"We will take care that violation of any rule will not take place," said Delhi police chief BS Bassi.

The Congress, which helped pass the insurance bill in Rajya Sabha following a pact with the government, has refused to back the land bill.

The party said it can only support the 2013 version of the bill, which was formulated with a broad consensus of all parties, including the BJP. Else, the current version of the bill should be sent to a parliamentary committee, the party has demanded.

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