Sukhbir S Badal appeals to village panchayats to pass resolutions refusing to part with 40,000 acres of land proposed to be acquired by the AAP govt

Sukhbir S Badal appeals to village panchayats to pass resolutions refusing to part with 40,000 acres of land proposed to be acquired by the AAP govt

(Says won’t let the land grabbing scheme initiated by Arvind Kejriwal succeed, won’t let the AAP govt acquire even one inch of land)

(Thousands congregate amidst heavy rain to oppose the forceful land acquisition drive)

(Party to hold dharnas at Mohali and Bathinda on July 28 and August 4)

Ludhiana 22 July ( PDL ) : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today appealed to village panchayats affected by the Aam Aadmi Party’s 40,000 acre land grabbing scheme to pass resolutions stating they would not part with their land even as he made it clear the SAD would not allow one inch of land to be acquired in Punjab come what may. Addressing a mammoth ‘dharna’ outside the DC office ludhiana here during the course of which thousands of people braved inclement weather and heavy rain to oppose forceful acquisition of fertile land in the State by the AAP government, the SAD President demanded the immediate revocation of the entire 40,000 acre land acquisition plan. He said the SAD would intensify the agitation against the land grab by holding weekly dharnas with the first dharna being held on July 28 in Mohali and on August 4 at Bathinda. Amidst enthusiastic slogans of “Sukhbir teri soch te pehra deyange thok ke”, Sukhbir Badal said AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal was behind this loot in league with builders of Delhi who had been promised large land parcels as per their wishes. He warned the chief secretary, who has been made Chairman of all development authorities, as well as their members that they would be held accountable for illegalities being committed in land acquisition processes in the State. Explaining the entire issue, the SAD President said the AAP government proposed to acquire 40,000 acres of land, including 24,000 in Ludhiana itself, under the archaic State Land Acquisition Act, 1995 instead of the Central Land Acquisition Act, 2013. He said the 1995 law allowed for excluding land parcels from acquisition and lease as well as allowing auction or allotment of land as per wishes of the ruling dispensation. “This will open the doors for corruption and allow select parcels to be excluded from auction at the whims and fancies of the government. In direct contrast the Central Land Acquisition Act, 2013 calls for giving compensation at four times the Collector rate besides a resettlement scheme”. He said the move to acquire the land through the State Land Acquisition Act, 1995 had not been passed in the State Assembly which itself made it illegal and unconstitutional. He said under the new acquisition, the small farmers will be the biggest losers. “Those possessing 50 acres of land would be eligible to get back 60 percent of the same, whereas those possessing nine acres would only get 33 per cent back. Farmers would additionally not be allowed to sell the land, take loan on it or undertake Change of Land Use (CLU) once the notification for acquisition is done”.

Speaking on the same issue, senior leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said chief minister Bhagwant Mann had tried to justify the policy recently. He said if the policy had been made keeping in mind the welfare of farmers then the chief minister should tell why he refused put his signatures on it and forced the AAP Delhi dispensation to replace him as Chairman of development authorities and give this post to the chief secretary. The SAD President also spoke on the 2015 incidents of sacrilege on the occasion. He said incidents of sacrilege started in Punjab only after the advent of AAP in the State in 2014. He said the issue of sacrilege was used to defame the SAD by both the AAP and the Congress to stop the Akali juggernaut which would have otherwise swept the State for the third successive time in 2017. He said these elements did not allow a State probe into the cases of sacrilege and demanded they be handed over to the CBI. “We transferred the cases to the CBI from which they were again taken back by the Congress. Since then only politics has been done on this sensitive issue by both the AAP and Congress even as the culprits roam free”. He said in stark contrast the SAD had got to the bottom of both Moga and Malerkotla sacrilege cases which were left with the State and ensured conviction in both the cases. Badal also spoke on how AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal had supported his legislator Naresh Yadav, who was accused of committing the Malerkotla sacrilege, to the hilt. “The AAP government forced the complainant to take back his complaint. Later despite being convicted, Kejriwal re-nominated Yadav for the party ticket from Mehrauli. All this only goes on to prove that AAP leaders had a hand in sacrilege incidents. We will get to the bottom of this once the SAD forms the government and punish the perpetrators”, Badal added. Senior leaders present at the dharna included Hira Singh Gabria, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, NK Sharma, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Ranjit Singh Dhillon, Bhupinder Singh Bhinda, SR Kler, Paramjit Singh Dhillon, Gurcharan Singh Grewal, Tirath Singh Mahla, Sunny Gill, Chand Singh Dalla, Sarabjit Singh Jhinjar, Kamal Chaitley, RD Sharma, Jaspal Singh Giaspura, Manjit Singh Madnipur, Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Parupkar Singh Ghumman, Bobby Garcha, Hitesh Grewal and Jaskaran Deol.