Uproar in Lok Sabha as BJP says Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust Land forcibly acquired from farmers in Haryana

NEW DELHI: The issue of land allocation to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Haryana rocked the Lok Sabha on Thursday as BJP members insisted on suspension of the question hour to discuss it.

BJP leader Rajnath Singh alleged that land had been forcibly acquired from farmers in Ullahawas village of Gurgaon district for the trust headed by Sonia Gandhi. This triggered an uproar from the Congress, which accused the Opposition of disrupting question hour and raising state-related issues.

Interestingly, the accusation against the Congress came when party general secretary Rahul Gandhi was busy visiting Maharashtra's Maval sub-district where three farmers, who were protesting against land acquisition, were killed in police firing last week.

The pandemonium forced speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the House repeatedly till lunch.

Singh, who could not speak in the din with Congress members continuously interrupting him, later told reporters he had toured 12 villages, including those in Gurgaon, and seen how the land was being forcibly acquired from farmers. "The farmers are aggrieved over the forcible land acquisition," he said.

Besides a judicial probe into land acquisition cases in Haryana and elsewhere, he demanded that the Centre asks all states to put acquisitions on hold till the land acquisition bill was passed in Parliament. "Land is being acquired in the name of public purpose but sold to builders," he said.

Accusing the Haryana government of being in connivance with the builders, he said procedures and market value of land have been ignored while acquiring land.

On the Congress allegation that he was raising a state subject, Singh said he had given notice for it and he was talking about land acquisition not just in Haryana but in several states.