Government looks at options for land bill in Rajya Sabha

The last week of the first phase of the Budget Session of Parliament promises to be a political potboiler, with a confrontation between the treasury and the Opposition benches appearing imminent owing to the passage of the controversial Land Acquisition Amendment Act, which has been cleared by the government.

Some kind of a give-and-take with Opposition parties, especially the Congress, which controls majority in the Rajya Sabha, is the only way for the Narendra Modi government to avoid an embarrassment or a defeat on the floor of the Upper House.

Extending the first phase of the session by a few days, conceding to some of the demands of the Opposition by sending the bill to a select committee and let the House decide the fate of the legislation are some of the options that are available before the government, but no decision has been taken as yet.

A strategy meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take place on Monday to decide the best available option before the government to end the crisis.

The Congress has been making it clear that it wants certain amendments to the bill, which was originally brought by the erstwhile UPA government. It is likely to move some amendments when the bill is taken up for voting after discussion. If the amendments are accepted, then it would be another embarrassment for the government.

The controversy involving a Delhi police team visiting Rahul Gandhi’s residence is also expected to make things worse for the government in its efforts to bring the Congress on board on the bill. The Congress has already announced it will raise the issue in both Houses of Parliament.

The fact that time for discussion on the bill, which is yet to be tabled, has not been allotted indicates that the government does not want to jump the gun by introducing it without taking the Opposition parties into confidence.

“The government’s position in the Rajya Sabha is not a secret. We don’t have enough numbers. We will talk to the Opposition parties and see what can be done,” a government source said.

The government has to push through the bills because they have to be passed before March 20, when Parliament breaks for a month-long recess, as the ordinances will expire by the first week of April.

The government has already suffered two embarrassments in the Rajya Sabha and even in the Lok Sabha, where it enjoys a brute majority. The first embarrassment was in the Rajya Sabha when an Opposition-moved amendment to the President’s address was accepted, while the latest one was in the Lower House when the Opposition, led by the Congress, forced postponement of the discussion on Union Budget on Friday.