Land bill row: Jaya rebuts DMK’s ‘double standard’ charge

AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa said that her party decided to support the land acquisition bill as it vests more power in states in matters such as granting exemptions.

Rejecting the ‘double standard’ charge levelled by DMK president M Karunanidhi, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa said on Sunday that her party decided to support the land acquisition bill as it vests more power in states in matters such as granting exemptions unlike the previous version. She asked whether Karunanidhi wants the Centre to have more powers than the state.

“We had to oppose the bill in 2013 as it encroached on powers of states and sought to acquire land for private institutions. This time, the Centre has readily accepted amendments proposed by AIADMK, primarily a demand to not give exemptions to private educational institutions and hospitals,” a statement issued by Jayalalithaa said. “The present bill with amendments allows more power to state governments without affecting the welfare of the farmers,” she said.

While the party had opposed the bill as it allowed certain companies to acquire land in the past, she said, the present bill allows the state government to take a call on exemptions based on the project and also depending upon other social benefits”, she said.

Jayalalithaa’s reaction came a day after Karunanidhi pointed out that AIADMK, whose members in Lok Sabha had strongly opposed the UPA’s land Act in 2013 and staged a walkout, has changed its stand when the bill was brought by BJP government.

“She opposed it in 2013 and is supporting it in 2015. Why this double standard?,” Karunanidhi had asked in his statement, asking whether AIADMK’s decision had to do anything with Jayalalithaa’s appeal against her conviction in the Rs 66.66-crore disproportionate assets case, in which Karnataka High Court had reserved judgment Wednesday.

Source:: Indian Express