Wait till bill is passed, says BJP

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Monday asked the State Government to refrain from acquiring land for all industrial projects till the passage of Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. “The Government should stop acquiring land for Posco and other industrial projects till the Bill is passed in Parliament,” senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh told mediapersons here. “The UPA Government has assured the BJP that the Bill will be introduced in Parliament during the monsoon session,” Singh said and asked the Naveen Patnaik Government to wait till the Bill is passed. Expressing concern over reports of forcible land acquisition for big companies in the State, the former party president advised the Government to leave the issue of land acquisition to private companies. “Let them discuss the matter directly with the farmers and land owners,” he said. Alleging that big companies are being favoured, Rajnath said the Government should not use force to acquire land for private industries. Slamming the BJD Government for the series of scams rocking the State, Rajnath said the Naveen regime had lost its credibility in the wake of mining, water, dal, linkage coal and rural job scams. Describing Naveen as an old friend, the BJP leader advised him to send a recommendation to the Centre for a CBI probe into all the scandals. To a question, Rajnath said his party will raise the mining scam and other corruption issues of the BJD Government in Parliament.