Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said the party will not compromise on the land bill passed by the UPA government and termed as "anti-farmer" the new legislation brought by the Modi government.Gandhi, who visited Mansa, Malakheda, Mokhan and Kadarna in Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch district to meet farmers whose crops have been damaged in the recent untimely rains, said the party was firm on the bill that was passed in 2013 during its own tenure.She also expressed shock over the state government's "silence" despite the high suicide rate among farmers in the region."You know what is happening about the land bill. We will not compromise on it. The new bill is anti-farmer. We are firm on the bill that was passed by Congress-led UPA government," Gandhi said.
Noting that the land bill of 2013 was supported by several parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party, she asked: "You tell me what is wrong with the bill. The new bill is not in the interest of farmers." It was in the interests of corporate sector, she added.The new land bill brought by the National Democratic Alliance government has been passed with nine official amendments in the Lok Sabha but has not been taken up in the Rajya Sabha where the Narendra Modi regime lacks majority.Apart from the Congress, several other opposition parties are firmly rallied against the controversial bill.The union cabinet is learnt to have given its approval for re-promulgation of the ordinance on the land bill. The earlier ordinance is set to lapse April 5.