New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the opposition parties had joined hands to protest against the Land Acquisition Bill to oppose the Modi government's amendments to the right to fair compensation and transparency in the bill.
"We have come to President to request him to intervene to protect interest of our farmers. And to stress upon the Modi government not to go ahead with the amendments in Rajya Sabha," she added.
Earlier in a show of strength and solidarity against the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, more than 100 lawmakers from at least 11 opposition parties had marched from Parliament House to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The government intervened to allow the protest march of leaders which also includes Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh after the Delhi police disallowed the gathering of lawmakers under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure., which prohibits the assembly of more than four persons, when Parliament is in session.
A letter from the Delhi Police said “under the circumstances, it is requested that the Honourable members of Parliament may be advised not to proceed to R.P. Bhavan."Home Ministry sources, however, clarified that the march requires no permission as lawmakers can visit the President's House by any mode of transport that they prefer, including on foot.
While denying the charges that the government was using the state machinery to stop the march, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "Nobody can take away your rights.”
Meanwhile, heavy security has been deployed at Vijay Chowk and other areas around the sprawling President's House to avert any untoward incident.
Yesterday, Youth Congress members clashed with the police as they attempted to storm barricades while protesting against the land acquisition bill passed in the Lok Sabha last week.
Mrs Gandhi will lead a delegation that includes members of parties like the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Left Front, DMK, Trinamool Congress and others. At the end of the march, they will hand over a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee.
