Chhattisgarh govt returns Tata land to tribals; Rahul vows to implement laws for land acquisition

Sounding the poll bugle from one of the most backward district of the country, Bastar, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday announced that his party will implement the law for land acquisition if voted to power in 2019 election.

Addressing Adivasi Krishak Adhikar Sammelan (convention for tribal farmers' rights) at Dhuragaon village in Bastar, Rahul indicated that Congress would be fighting the next election on a pro-poor plank.

Rahul handed over Forest Rights Certificates and farm loan waiver certificates to 1,707 tribals. A total of 1,764.61 hectares of land from ten villages had been acquired by the BJP government in 2008 to set up a Tata Steel project. However, due to protests, the project could not be completed and it was scrapped later.

Rahul Gandhi said forest, land and water rights belong to Adivasis and the benefit from the forest produce should reach them, adding that Chhattisgarh had become the first state of the country to have returned land to the tribals after the acquisition.

During the assembly election, Rahul had promised to return the land acquired for Tata project to their original owners. Analysts believe that this particular poll promise yielded fruit for the Congress and it bagged 11 out of 12 seats in Bastar region.

It was Rahul's first rally in the region after sweeping the recently held assembly election in the state.

Hitting out at the PM, Rahul said, “Modi has money to waive off industrialists’ loans but not for waiving off farmers’ loans.”

Concerned about the issues of the poor and dispossessed, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his party’s commitment to implement the minimum income guarantee scheme for the poor during the rally.

“Every person, no matter which caste, community or region he belongs, should be sure of one thing--that if Congress comes to power, we will assure guarantee of minimum income,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the interim Budget presented by the Modi government, Rahul said the BJP leaders were thumping their tables in the parliament as if Modi had announced something big for farmers but eventually it turned out to be just ₹17 per day for a family.

“The previous BJP government claimed that the government did not have money to give fair MSPs to farmers. We have proved that it can be done after forming the government,” said Rahul.

He also said that if the Congress is voted to power, it will make the Gabbar Singh Tax (GST) a simpler tax.