-The Indian Express
Over a month after introducing the Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill in Parliament, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday reached out to the Opposition BJP seeking its cooperation for early passage of the Bill.
Ramesh called on Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to seek her support for expediting the Bill that has been referred to the Standing Committee of Parliament headed by BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan.
He was also learnt to have spoken to Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley over phone to get his support in getting the Bill scrutinised by the Committee at the earliest.
He was learnt to have requested both these senior BJP leaders to wield their influence over their party colleague and the Chairman of the Standing Committee to expedite scrutiny of the Bill.
The Rural Development Minister was keen to get the Bill ready for passage in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament.
With assembly elections in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh drawing closer, the move holds significance as the Congress has made the alleged forced land acquisition in the state a major political issue.