Land Acquisition Bill: Congress readies to keep food bill momentum going

KEEN to portray to the country that Sonia Gandhi’s brief visit to AIIMS on Monday night has not blunted her focus, the Congress party’s spin doctors are now busy suggesting that not only is the UPA chairperson in good health but she may also be back in Parliament on Thursday. What’s more, she may push for the passage of another promise made by her party, more specifically by her son and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the Land Acquisition Bill. [caption id=“attachment_1067075” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sonia Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Congress party strategists and enthusiastic leaders seem to be guided by two things. The first is to tell anyone who will listen that the ailment has not made her weak and that even when unwell and in hospital, she continued to have the common man and common good on top of her mind. News reports in two leading dailies Times of India story (headlined “On way to AIIMS Sonia’s mind was on traffic rules”) and another one in Hindustan Times (headlined “Sonia recovers, set to unveil slew of schemes”), both quoting unnamed Congress sources, suggested as much. The second objective is to convey the message that after getting the food security bill passed, Sonia was in fact set to push through another populist measure, the land acquisition bill. The bill, which may offer benefits to land holding farmers and land sharks but will arguably have detrimental effects on growth, will come amid intense debate on the impact of the Food Security Bill, the sinking rupee and the economic slowdown. The Parliament session has already been extended to September 6 to ensure that the two potentially vote-winning  laws – food security and land acquisition – are passed without any hiccups. The Congress would like to believe that pre-poll sops, coming in quick succession, have the potential of becoming talking points even in rural and semi-urban areas and will politically outweigh the more limited debate on the sinking rupee. This would serve the purpose of showcasing Sonia as sole benefactor of the aam admi. Notwithstanding the spin doctors’ efforts, there is concern that at a time when the UPA government is on a weak footing on various fronts ranging from corruption to rising prices to the economy, and while the party remains organizationally ill-prepared for elections, an all mighty Congress president could appear weak. Needless to say, had Parliament not been in session, and had it not been for the urgency to save time due to which she emerged from a front gate, there would have been no photographs of her missing a step and looking for a helping hand. The rush to assuage any fear about her health only serve to underline that Sonia has the responsibility of leading the Congress campaign in five states in two month’ time, and then in the soon-to-follow Parliamentary elections. Until now, any news on Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, their whereabouts and so on, have always been closely guarded secrets. Her treatment abroad is still shrouded in mystery. In August 2011, the Congress party issued a brief statement without disclosing her ailment and location of treatment after some foreign news agencies broke the news. A statement issued by party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi had then urged the media not to speculate and to respect the family’s privacy. “This is a personal matter that pertains to her health and medical treatment. Her family requests that her privacy be respected,” Dwivedi had said. It was in this backdrop that Narendra Modi’s tweet “a wheelchair or a stretcher should have been used” can hardly be viewed as innocent. Congress leaders are expectedly furious about the unsolicited advice from their most bitter political rival. And while several BJP leaders found  Modi’s tweet amusing, something that adds to Modi’s rather unconventional style of public discourse, others said he should not have commented on the issue. The BJP at this moment is largely cooperating with the UPA in the passage of the bills. On Monday when Sonia Gandhi read from a written speech on food security as against the rules of procedure and conduct of business, the BJP did not raise objections. When Sonia finished speaking, a member raised this issue only to be told by  Speaker Meira Kumar that a prior permission to read from a prepared speech was sought and had been given under rule 352. The rule was formulated with the rationale that a leader should speak from his or her own intellect than from borrowed or motivated insight. A senior BJP leader told Firstpost, “We know that these bills will have disastrous effects on our economy but then compulsions of electoral politics is such that you can’t be seen to be opposing any populist move, be it caste reservation or food security or land acquisition. That’s a reality we have to live with particularly when we are just about to approach the elections." During the four-and-a-half years of UPA 2, Sonia Gandhi has spoken only once during regular business of Parliament, on Monday on the food security bill.  Now, a re-charged party hopes to back that up with the other priority subject, the land acquisition bill.