The UPA government appears to have stirred a hornet’s nest with the cabinet approving a new policy on the allotment of land to political parties, based on their strength in Parliament.
NEW DELHI: The UPA government appears to have stirred a hornet’s nest with the cabinet approving a new policy on the allotment of land to political parties, based on their strength in Parliament. According to the decision of the Cabinet, political parties will have to vacate the offices they occupy in Lutyen’s Delhi in lieu of which the government will allot national political parties with a strength of at least seven MPs or more, land for construction of their office buildings in Delhi.
The decision will have to be ratified by Parliament and given the sharp reaction that it has evoked, it is unlikely that the decision will be ratified in its present form. The smaller parties are likely to be the biggest sufferers and they are likely to oppose the move tooth and nail.
According to the provisions of the new policy approved by the Cabinet on Friday, the allotment of land to the political parties will be in proportion to their strength. The smaller parties like the SP, JD(U), RJD, JD(S) and the NCP have their offices in sprawling bungalows which they will have to give up. Even the Congress and BJP will have to vacate their premises. Under the new policy, the BJP, with a strength of 185 will be entitled to a 2-acre plot, while the Congress which has a strength of 218 MPs will be entitled to a 4-acre plot.
Even these two parties have their reservations. “It’s not just a question of a piece of property. This place is of great sentimental value to us,” says Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi. The BJP on the other hand is alleging that the Congress is apprehensive of reduced numbers in the next parliamentary elections and is thus making the most of their current strength.
It is the smaller parties like the SP, BSP, NCP, JD(U) and the JD(S) that will be hit the hardest, and if this decision is implemented they may have to shift from the premises that they occupy and relocate to the land allotted to them. These parties argue that the move is not well thought out as the strength of the parties varies in every election and therefore allotting land based on their current strength is not right. “They have not applied their minds. Parliamentary strength is variable. Suppose after the next elections we come back with larger numbers, will they allot a bigger plot of land to us?” asks JD(U) president Sharad Yadav. The RJD also disagrees with the decision. “They must first tell us where will they give us the land, and what happens if our strength changes,” says RJD’s Parliamentary party leader Devendra Prasad Yadav.
The Left parties however are likely to remain unaffected by the new move as they already have office premises of their own. However, their trade unions might have to seek alternate accommodation.
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