By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress party Wednesday said it will not join the march to parliament Thursday being organised by the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some other parties to support Uttar Pradesh farmers demanding higher compensation for their land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway.
“There is no reason to organise a march to parliament. Such a march should have been held around the Uttar Pradesh assembly,” Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters here.
Earlier, party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the party cannot support march against its own government.
Singh also took a dig at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s support to the Aug 26 march. He said there was no purpose of march with a party whose government had opened fire on protesting farmers.
Congress took up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday. A party delegation, which included party general secretaries Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh, and Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, met Manmohan Singh and urged him to bring in the land acquisition amendment bill and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill at an early date.
The prime minister assured them that the government will strive to bring the bills in the next session of parliament.
Farmers have been protesting at Tappal in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district for the last three weeks demanding a substantial enhancement in the compensation offered to them for their lands acquired to build the 165-km Noida-Agra Yamuna Expressway.
Two farmers and a police constable were killed when police opened fire on protesting farmers in the area Aug 14.
The compensation amount was increased from Rs.449 per square metre to Rs.570 per square metre by the state government after the farmers launched their protest.
But the farmers refused to withdraw their agitation and demanded compensation at the rate of Rs.880 per square metre that was paid in Greater Noida.
The Yamuna expressway, which is expected to reduce the driving time between New Delhi and Agra to about 90 minutes, will pass through Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Aligarh, Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras) and Mathura districts. It involves acquisition of land in 115 villages.