Stir against land ordinance will help revive Cong: Jairam

Former union minister Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday that the Congress, including the party’s government in the State, would continue to oppose the new Land Acquisition ordinance issued by the NDA government at the Centre.

Addressing a press conference here, Ramesh said that the Congress government in Karnataka would continue with the State’s land acquisition law, which is in tune with the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.

“Any state is free to improve upon the Centre’s land acquisition law,” he said.
Speaking about the all India protests against the land acquisition ordinance, Ramesh said that it will be the “Sanjeevini” for the revival of the Congress party.

“Like Chikkamagaluru was the Sanjeevini for the party in 1978 (Indira Gandhi won the by-elections after the end of Emergency), the political agitations will be the Sanjeevini of 2015 for the party,” said the AICC member.

Ramesh said that the Congress had already planned padayatras in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with similar agitations elsewhere in the country. He said the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would be at the forefront of the agitation.

Ramesh said that after the agitation against the land acquisition ordinance, the next frontier of political battle was against the relaxation of the environment and tribal laws in the country.

On the dilution of the Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats by the State, Ramesh did not give a firm response.