New Delhi: A parliamentary committee meeting on the Land Acquisition Act was cut short Tuesday after BJP MPs on the panel walked out in opposition to the participation of social rights activist Medha Patkar, who had been invited as an expert, calling her “anti-national” and “anti-development”, ThePrint has learnt. Patkar was waiting outside the meeting room when it happened.
In addition to Patkar, actor and activist Prakash Raj, lawyer Aradhana Bhargava, and other experts, NGO representatives, and stakeholders had been invited by the committee, chaired by Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, to share their views on the subject, members of the panel told The Print.
“The BJP MPs started calling Medha Patkar anti-national in a coordinated fashion even before the meeting could begin. They accused her of stalling development across states. One BJP MP even went on to say that if we could invite Patkar, then the committee might as well call the prime minister of Pakistan. Then they walked out,” one Opposition MP said on the condition of anonymity.
When contacted, BJP MP Raju Bista, who is a member of the committee, told ThePrint: “The committee should have disclosed the list of members they have invited to gather oral evidence beforehand. They did not do that. Instead some people who were not even in the official list of invitees landed up. Parliamentary committee meetings cannot be used to gain political mileage.” Bista also denied calling Patkar “anti-national”.
According to a Lok Sabha secretariat notice, the agenda of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Standing Committee meeting was ‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 — Implementation and Effectiveness’.
Its objective was to gather “oral evidence of the representatives of the Department of Land Resources (Ministry of Rural Development), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Non-government Organisations, experts and other stakeholders”.
Two Opposition MPs part of the committee said soon after the BJP MPs walked out of the meeting, it was cancelled citing lack of quorum, or the minimum number of MPs required to be in attendance for it to be held.
Under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, the quorum to constitute a sitting of a committee shall be, “as near as may be, one-third of the total number of members of the Committee”.
Of the 29 members of the committee, 17, including 11 BJP MPs, turned up for the meeting Tuesday. Once the BJP members walked out, there were six MPs, including four from the Congress, who remained. BJP MPs who walked out include Sanjay Jaiswal, Parshottam Rupala, it is learnt.
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader H.D. Deve Gowda, who is also a committee member, and CPI(M) MP K. Radhakrishnan, were the other members who did not walk out, sources said.
“We had informed the members that Medha Patkar would be coming. But BJP MPs objected. So the meeting had to be postponed. Land acquisition is a big issue. But the ruling party MPs boycotted the meeting without hearing. And it was subsequently cancelled citing lack of quorum. But the committees have been formed in a way that achieving a quorum is not possible without the presence of BJP MPs,” Ulaka said.
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, commonly known as the Land Acquisition Bill, was championed by Rahul Gandhi when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power.
Prakash Raj, who was representing a Karnataka-based NGO, was invited to speak on displacement, another member said.
“The BJP MPs insisted that their problem was with Patkar, who spearheaded the Narmada Bachao Andolan. We pointed out how Patkar has protested even against Congress governments. The chairperson said he would not object if Prakash Raj is kept out of the meeting as he was a last-minute addition. On Patkar, he requested the BJP MPs to hear her out and Lok Sabha committees are democratic platforms and members or the Lok Sabha secretariat cannot dictate terms on invitees,” one MP said.
Sources said the committee has had multiple meetings on the subject which was to be taken up Tuesday. “It has also visited Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands to study the subject. For now, it has been decided to reschedule it sometime in July,” another MP said.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Is a smashed bottle a sign of increasingly polarised Parliament panels? What MPs, ex-officials say
