By Anjali Ojha, IANS,
New Delhi : As you sow, so shall you reap – the old proverb is being looked at anew in India and, indeed, it has much to do with land. The victory of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and protests in Uttar Pradesh have forced political parties to factor in the thorny issue of land acquisition in their electoral arithmetic.
The Trinamool Congress, which swept the assembly elections in Bengal with 184 seats in the 294-member assembly, is the most recent example of cashing in on farmer discontent.
Banerjee’s popularity surged after she led the anti-land acquisition movements in Nandigram and Singur in 2007 and 2008 respectively, when the ruling Marxists were accused of forcibly acquiring land from farmers for outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s pet industrialisation projects.
The recent anti-land acquisition protests in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida too became major flashpoints, with the slanging match between the Congress and Chief Minister Mayawati virtually drowning out the voices of farmers, who were protesting against the inadequate compensation for their land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway project.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi went to the extent of saying he was “ashamed of being an Indian” seeing the state government’s high-handedness in dealing with such protests.
Experts say this is in contrast with the scenario a few years ago when it was largely civil society which protested land acquisition.
“Farmers’ issues have always been politically important, but, yes, lately political parties have realised that land acquisition is the best way to challenge the ruling party and nail it,” Sandeep Shastri, political analyst and pro-vice-chancellor of Jain University, Bangalore, told IANS on phone.
“They now realise it is something which can get votes,” he says.
Giving the example of West Bengal, senior analyst N. Bhaskar Rao said though land agitation was not the only reason for Trinamool’s victory, it was an issue of growing concern.
“Singur became a vehicle for Mamata Banerjee to come to power, though it was not the only issue. Land acquisition, however, is a much larger issue and in every state,” he said.
“Farmers have been cheated in the name of SEZs (Special Economic Zones); land is being taken away just the way it was in British times,” he said.
The Land Acquisition Act, which was passed in 1894, gives the government the right to acquire private land without the consent of the land owners if the land is acquired for “public purpose” projects, such as the development of towns and village sites, building of schools, hospitals and housing.
The land owners receive a price decided by the government, which farmers and activists say is way below the prevailing market rate.
According to the central government, the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill will solve the problem.
Among its other proposals, the bill says private developers have to acquire 70 percent of the required land from willing sellers in the open market. Only then can the government step in and acquire the rest of the land.
But experts say the problem lies much deeper.
“The issue doesn’t end with compensation; it’s the livelihood of the farmer that is taken away, which needs to be addressed,” says Shastri.
Rao adds that similar agitations may erupt in other states as well if policies are not corrected.
“Land agitations are going to be the next round of battle. Andhra Pradesh may be the next state to see such protests,” he said. “The epidemic will spread.”
(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at [email protected])