New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee today approved the re-promulgation of the land acquisition ordinance.
Government was forced to re-promulgate the ordinance as the land acquisition bill has got stuck in parliament owing to Modi government's lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday night decided to recommend re-promulgation of the land acquistion ordinance incorporating nine amendments that were part of the Bill that was passed in Lok Sabha earlier this month.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Bill passed by the Lower House and is pending before the Rajya Sabha has no chance of being cleared before April 5.
READ ALSO: Union Cabinet clears re-promulgation of land acquisition ordinance
The ordinance should have been cleared by Parliament before April 5 if it was to subsist. But the government faced a hurdle in Rajya Sabha, where it could not get the Bill to replace it cleared because of lack of numbers.
The Opposition was not in a mood to oblige the government and in fact mounted a strong campaign against it. Led by Sonia Gandhi, the Opposition parties demanded the passage of the original land bill that was passed during the UPA regime.
Brushing aside opposition to the ordinance, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Friday decided to prorogue the current session of Rajya Sabha paving the way for re-issuing it. On Saturday, the President prorogued the House.
Under the Constitution at least one of the Houses has to be prorogued for Government to issue an ordinance. Parliament is currently on a month-long recess after the Budget session started on February 23.
The land ordinance was among the six executive orders issued by the government in the inter session period. While five of them were cleared by Parliament, the land measure is stuck. Once it is re-promulgated, it will be the eleventh ordinance to be issued by the Modi government.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP has decided to hold nationwide rallies seeking support for land bill.
The first rally will be held in Ranchi on May 6 and it will be addressed by union minister Nitin Gadkari.
