Shiv Sena to campaign against NDA govt's land law

 The Shiv Sena continued to be on collision course with the NDA government at the Centre on the controversial Land Acquisition Bill and would reach out to farmers to explain the dangers of the law.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had openly aired his views against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on different issues – and the Land Acquisition Bill is yet another development in the series. The Sena is an ally of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre and co-governs Maharashtra.

At a party meeting on Wednesday, he asked Shiv Sainiks to travel across Maharashtra to create awareness about the bill among the farmers. “Any law which is against farmers, we will not support. As far as the Land Acquisition Bill is concerned, there are certain issues which needs to be addressed. We are not against the bill but debate is important,” Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said.

On Tuesday evening, in a statement to “Saamana” and “Dophar ka Saamana”, the mouthpieces of Shiv Sena, Thackeray said: “There is no question of Shiv Sena supporting any law that goes against the interests of farmers….do not commit the sin of squeezing the throat of the farmers.”

Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai, a close aide of the Thackeray family, told reporters  that the Shiv Sena does not change its stand on issues. “We were against Jaitapur, we are still against it….the Land Acquisition Bill deals with acquisitions of these types. We are in a democracy, we are two parties, there are bound to be differences.”