The Punjab Congress has decided to launch a statewide agitation in protest against the AAP government’s land pooling policy, starting with a dharna in Mohali on Monday.
Party leaders said the Congress would take out a series of rallies across Punjab and hold political congregations in every village where the government is planning to acquire land under the policy.
The Mohali protest is the second major agitation organised by the Congress in recent days after a rally in Ludhiana, where 24,000 acres of agricultural land will be acquired.
Accusing Opposition parties of misleading farmers, AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said, “To counter the misleading campaign, the AAP is reaching out to farmers and villagers to explain the advantages of the policy.”
Soon after it was introduced in May, the policy has faced political backlash. Farmer outfits have decided to launch a statewide agitation against it from July 30 with Opposition parties also lending support to them.
The cash-strapped state government has been defending the land pooling policy, saying it would spur urban development with farmers and landowners getting plots of higher value than the cost of the land acquired from them. Under the policy, the government has decided to acquire over 65,000 acres, which will be utilised to develop townships near several cities, including the Ludhiana industrial centre. The policy, the government says, envisages “complete voluntary participation” by landowners.
The Opposition, however, maintains that the policy would result in large-scale corruption and grabbing of farmers’ land. State Congress chief Amrinder Raja Warring said the Punjab government was escaping its responsibilities under the pro-farmer Land Acquisition Act enacted by the UPA government in 2013.
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