The second meeting of the NITI Aayog Government Council witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi struggle to conclude a consensus among chief ministers for the Centre's existing Land Acquisition Act.
With Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal openly opposing any moves to dilute provisions of the 2013 act, Modi did not receive support even from his well wishers, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and J & K chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, as they hesitated acquiring land without the farmers' consent. The ministers present in the meeting expressed that in case an agreement on the bill is not forged, the states should be allowed to enact their respective legislation and the Centre should only appraise.
In the two hour meeting that was skipped by most of the Congress MPs and a total of 12, Modi argued that the Centre and states must join hands to end poverty as “political deadlock” will seriously affect development in the rural areas including building schools, hospitals, roads and irrigation projects.
“Political considerations should not come in the way of a solution that would facilitate development of the rural areas, and greater prosperity for the farmers,” he said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar claimed that his government was opposed to dilute, nullify or tamper with the letter and spirit of the 2014 Act in its original form. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed stressed on the need to forge a consensus on the issue and give greater freedom to the states in pursuing national objectives, but in sync with their respective conditions.
Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh and Gujarat contended that the existing law would be in larger public interest. West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee boycotted the meet, while Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa and Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik maintained their absence due to other engagements.
