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BJP opens dialogue with Sena on land bill

Last Updated 27 February 2015, 20:27 IST

The Narendra Modi government on Friday deputed Union Shipping and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to Maharashtra in an attempt to reach out to the Shiv Sena which is opposing the Land Acquisition Bill.

Gadkari is expected to meet Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Gandhian and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare to discuss the issue and would try to clarify doubts they have raised. “I have been asked by the government to meet people who have raised issues about the bill and I would be meeting them…most probably I would be meeting Uddhav Thackeray today itself or at the earliest,” Gadkari told a news conference at the BJP office at Nariman Point here.

Gadkari, who had for some time also held the charge for the rural development ministry, said that the bill is in no way “anti-farmer” as being projected. “Lets us not go by presumption, let us base our opinion on facts,” he said.

Asked whether the government has gone on a backfoot on this issue, Gadkari shot back in cricketing jargon: “We are not on the back foot. We are on front foot. We are those who hit fours and sixes.” However, to a question, he said that the government would agree to “good suggestions”. “People have some opinion, doubts, reservations on two broad issues – the consent clause and special impact assessment, we would hear them out,” the senior BJP leader from Maharashtra said.

He also said that he had a meeting with Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana founder Raju Shetti, who had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha. “I am meeting people and explaining them,” Gadkari said, pointing out at the host of documents that he is carrying.

The Land Acquisition Bill has become the bone of contention between the Shiv Sena and the BJP with the former targeting the Central government, repeatedly.

As a matter of fact, Thackeray had asked Shiv Sainiks to reach out to farmers across Maharashtra and explain to them about the dangers that they face because of the proposed law.

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(Published 27 February 2015, 20:27 IST)

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