Counter Opposition 'propaganda' on land bill: Amit Shah to BJP MPs

Facing the Opposition heat over the land bill, BJP on Sunday went on the offensive with party President Amit Shah asking MPs to effectively counter "propaganda" against the government on it and highlight the schemes initiated for the welfare of farmers and poor.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Shah said those people who usurped farmers' land without giving them adequate compensation have no right to question the government on the land bill. Addressing a day-long workshop of BJP MPs, which coincided with the Kisan rally by Congress, he asked them to spread the message of good governance and various developmental activities initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The workshop, which opened with the Prime Minister's remarks, saw several ministers making a strong pitch for effective projection of NDA government's "pro-poor" initiatives while asking MPs to counter Opposition's anti-farmer attack against it. Shah said after a decade of UPA rule which saw one scam after another, the country now "has a government which is free of scams and corruption and the MPs should feel proud of it".

Summing up the deliberations, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters, "Overall the mood is very much upbeat." Naidu quoted Shah as having told the party MPs that a big responsibility was cast on them to project the government's schemes and in deflating the "disinformation campaign" by detractors.

The BJP president was happy about the "change of mood" in the people over the new land bill, he said. "We were able to not only disarm our critics but also take the message positively to the people who feel that this government is really going to make a sea-change in their life," Shah said. The Workshop was also addressed by Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, J P Nadda, Birendra Singh and Naidu himself about various initiatives. 

On a day Congress held a rally where Sonia and Rahul Gandhi attacked him, Modi today projected his government as pro-poor and pro-farmer by listing out a host of schemes and lashed out at "perverted" critics for their "congenital habit" of working against BJP.

Attacking the UPA regime, Shah later said, "People who have committed scams and scandals, distributed lakhs of acres of land without giving adequate compensation to the farmers, have no right to criticise this government".

Government, he said, is not going to acquire land for private people or corporates but for the larger interest of the people. "This government wants to make the rural people as partners in the development," he said.
He highlighted various developmental initiatives,including welfare initiatives like Prime Minister's Suraksha Bima Yojna, Atal Pension Yojna, Mudra Bank and 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojna' and also Jan Dhan Yojna.

"The BJP President said raise your head high and go to the people. There is no scam, no scandal during our government and we were able to get more and more money for people's welfare because of the auction of coal mines and spectrum. We were able to add more than Rupees three lakh plus crores so that we can spend on the states and poor people," Naidu said quoting Shah.

The workshop, "Garib Kalyan Yojnaye: Its Effective Implementation and Role of MPs",organised by BJP Parliamentary Party, in association with Shri Rambhau Mhalagi Prabodhini, a training and research academy, focussed on pro-poor welfare programmes and how to take them to grassroots level.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke on social dimension of welfare schemes and how to bring suggestions of people back to the government. She shared her own experiences with MPs and asked them to remain connected with the ground. Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari spoke on the Adarsh Gram Yojna, while Health Minister J P Nadda dwelt on how to take MPLADs forward and implement it effectively while creating permanent assets and publishing annual reports.

Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot referred to welfare measures for the poor, while HRD Minister Smriti Irani drew attention to her ministry's new initiatives in the last 10 months. There was also a presentation on Skill development initiatives taken by this government by Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, while Rural Development Minister Birender Singh spoke about the measures taken for welfare of rural areas and Naidu spoke on the various urban schemes.