New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday hit out at the Opposition for "politicising" the land bill issue and questioned the Congress why it did not seek farmers' consent when it doled out coal mines to the "rich".
"Opposition is politicising the bill. The country is facing tough times, we need capital investment, increased GDP, per capita income, we have to eradicate poverty, it will happen in villages not in the cities. We need land for roads and electrification," he said in an interview to Rajya Sabha TV.
"I want to ask Jairam Ramesh when you acquired land for coal mines, you gave to it to the rich people. At that time you did not require consensus, social impact assessment. Therefore, stop politicising the issue, it is not in the interest of the country," a Rajya Sabha TV press release quoted him as saying.
He said Opposition parties are misleading people on the land bill as farmers should be happy that the proposed compensation mechanism will ensure four times the market price in rural areas and double the price in urban areas.
He said ministers will talk to farmer unions to "dispel misgivings and disinformation spread by the Opposition" as the bill was in farmers' interests.
"I am confident that people are with us," he said, adding that some parties have a political agenda in projecting this government as against farmers.
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