(Image source from: TMC and CPM Marched Together with 12 other Parties})

Congress and other opposition parties of the government showcased their unity against the Land Bill through March from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. Though AIADMK, BJD, BSP have not joined the march from opposition benches, the strength was good enough to express their anger against the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act.

Over 100 MPs from the opposition parties including INC, JD(U), SP, TMC, CPI, NCP, INLD, and CPI(M), marched the 1 kilometer distance  distance over Raisina Hill to the presidential estate. A representative delegation of 26 leaders, including AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, JDS chief H.D. Deve Gowda, met President Pranab Mukharjee and urged him to protect farmers’ interests by asking Centre “not to go ahead with the amendments in the Rajya Sabha”, saying they were Pro-Corporate and Anti-farmer moves.

Earlier the Delhi Police reportedly denied the permission to the march by opposition parties, but the Opposition in Parliament forced the government to reverse an order by the Delhi police.

This is the first time the Opposition parties have joined forces in such large numbers against the BJP-led Modi government since the Lok Sabha election last year. “We have come together to oppose the Narendra Modi government’s amendments to the right of fair compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Resettlement Act 2013... All progressive, secular, democratic and forward-looking forces are determined to defeat the Modi government’s design to promote divisions and social disharmony. We have come to the President to request him to intervene to protect the interests of our farmers and to impress upon the Modi government not to go ahead with the amendments in the Rajya Sabha. These are some of the reasons for which we have come here,” said AICC chief Sonia Gandhi after meeting with President Pranab Mukharjee.

Interestingly the rival parties Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) members walked together for the first time in recent times. Now the Modi government has to taste the power of majority, as they are in minority in Rajya Sabha. If the bill is not passed in the Rajya Sabha, government can opt for joint session of both the houses, but that will add a pro-corporate tag to the government.

-Kannamsai