BJP to hold kisan panchayats in Yamuna Expressway belt

LUCKNOW: In a clever strategy to keep the land acquisition issue alive, the UP BJP has decided to hold kisan panchayats along the Yamuna Expressway belt. Addressing the media on Monday, BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi said that senior leaders would be visiting the region earmarked under the project to hear out popular grievances against the state government."There are reports of simmering resentment among farmers as instead of setting up industrial hub on the acquired prime agricultural land as promised, Mayawati government has sold it off for the purpose of setting up sprawling farm houses.
In fact in a scramble to favour the privileged, the government has even flouted the UP Land Ceiling Act and cleared allocation of 200 to 250 acres to allottees for setting up luxury farmhouses, Shahi alleged. " We have already set up base committees comprising local workers who would carry out preliminary investigation and hand over the report which will eventually be followed by visits by the party stalwarts,” he said. Shahi dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s dramatic visit to Bhatta Parasul village as an eyewash.
"Rahul had promised Tappal farmers last year that he would ensure the bill for amending land acquisition was tabled in parliament. Three sessions have already passed and the AICC general secretary has done nothing in this regard. He was duly rewarded by the state government for this by offering him an easy access to the village while the BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra and he himself were detained at the border,” Shahi charged.
Meanwhile, the party, Shahi said, had also decided to set up Vijay Vahini — an army of booth volunteers to cover 1 lakh 27 thousands polling booths — during the 2012 general elections.
"They would be entrusted with the job of carrying out an intense public connect campaign to enlist better response from the voters,” he said.
Touching upon the petrol price hike, Shahi warned that the party would not take the arbitrary move lying down and fight till the government rolls back the prices.Over the past two years petrol prices have gone up by Rs 23 and the increase has been Rs 14 in the past 11 months, he said.
Rs 5 hike, he said, had broken all the previous records and has hit the consumers — particularly the lower middle and middle class really hard. "If the demand is not conceded, the BJP would be holding statewide protest to press the issue,” he said.
Over the past two years petrol prices have gone up by Rs 23 and the increase has been Rs 14 in the past 11 months, he said. Rs 5 hike, he said, had broken all the previous records and has hit the consumers — particularly the lower middle and middle class really hard.