Lucknow, October 12
Two days before the Congress President Sonia Gandhi was to do the “bhumi pujan” for the prestigious Rs 1685.29 crore rail coach factory in Rae Bareli, the Mayawati government has decided to cancel the 189.25 hectares of land allotted for the project quoting “serious agitation by the local people” as the reason.
Virtually throwing a spanner in the works, the Mayawati government on October 11 decided to return the land to the gram sabha on the recommendation of a report submitted to it by the district magistrate on October 10. Earlier the BSP government had handed over the land to the railway ministry vide an order dated May 19, 2008.
Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference today, principal secretary (information) Vijay Shankar Pandey said: “The villagers are agitated that the additional 700 acres needed for the project would create a problem of landlessness in the area and cause unemployment in the next generation. This might lead to self-immolations and a law and order problem,” said Pandey.
On the other hand, while condemning the move as “anti-development” Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said the story of the farmers’ agitation was a “complete figment of Mayawati's imagination.”
“Show me any newspaper report which mentions of Rae Bareli farmers protesting and refusing to part with their land for setting up the factory. The place is barely 80 kilometres from the state capital and is not so remote that news does not reach us,” she said.
According to the UPCC president, the land had formally been transferred to the railway ministry after payment of Rs 8 crore as compensation
Calling it a conspiracy to derail Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s dream project for her constituency, Bahuguna said this was probably because the Congress had openly challenged the Mayawati government’s land acquisition policy.
Meanwhile, she refused to confirm if Congress President Sonia Gandhi would still visit Rae Bareli on October 14, where she was to address a public rally after the “bhumi pujan”.
