BJP hits out at Rahul Gandhi over Land Bill

LUCKNOW: Facing continued attack by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi over land acquisition bill, BJP today retaliated saying if due permission of farmers were taken for the land acquired in Haryana for his brother-in-law Robert Vadra.

"Rahul should speak (on the issue of land acquisition) keeping his brother-in-law (Robert Vadra) in mind... was the land acquired for him in Haryana was after seeking permission from the farmers concerned", Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai told reporters in reply to a question here.

Rejecting the allegations of opposition parties, he said that the land acquisition bill was not aimed at benefitting the industrialists and instead had provisions for rehabilitation of farmers, increasing land prices in urban and rural areas and employment to one person in the family.

Exuding confidence on his party's prospects in the 2017 Assembly elections in UP, Bajpai said "in the coming electoral Mahabharat, BJP will be in the role of Pandavas while the rest in that of Kauravas".

The BJP state president assured that the party will not give tickets to outsiders at the cost of party workers and leaders in the 2017 elections.

Charging the state government with neglecting farmers facing hardships due to untimely rains, Bajpai said that none of the state ministers went to get first hand information about their condition while at least six union ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited different areas to assess their losses.

On the just concluded two-day long working committee meeting in Ghaziabad, he said that a decision to launch mass contact programme will be started from May 24 during which people will be apprised with the false propaganda of opposition on the land acquisition bill.