India needs Land Bill for development, some CMs who backed it earlier are now opposing it, says Centre

The NDA government on Wednesday asserted that though the Centre wanted consensus on the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, it could not wait for the same indefinitely.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital following the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed that several Chief Ministers had earlier agreed the land bill amendments.

"Some Chief Ministers who earlier agreed to the amendments in the land bill later opposed it," said the Finance Minister, adding that land was "urgently required for development".

He further said that as the bill was getting delayed, the states seeking faster development can bring in their own legislation.

The Union Minister targeted the chief ministers who skipped the Niti Aayog meeting, saying "it's better to attend the meeting and raise their point to view rather than not attending it".

"Is not attending a Niti Aayog meeting a form of cooperative federalism?" asked the Union Finance Minister.

Responding to a question on the stands of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on the land bill issue, Jaitey said that while the former suggested that it was "not the right time" to carry out amendments, the AAP leader asked the government to modify the UPA land bill instead of bringing a new one.

"States' development has been stalled due to land concerns. Many Chief Ministers stated that delay in implementing Land Acquisition Bill slowed down projects," he said.

The Finance Minister added that states seeking faster development can bring in their own legislation.

While all Congress chief ministers remained absent from the meeting, it was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bihar CM Arvind Kejriwal, among others.

Others who attended the meeting include Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is embroiled in a controversy over multi-crore Vyapam scam.

Apart from the Congress chief ministers who did not attend the meeting, there were some non-Congress and non-BJP CMs as well to gave the meet a miss. Those who did not make it to the national capital for the meeting included West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalithaa.

While Banerjee did not attend the meeting expressing her objection to the Land Acquisition Bill, Patnaik did not make it to the meet as he was reportedly busy with the preparations for the Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra. Jayalalithaa sent her speech for the meeting through a letter to the Prime Minister.

The meeting of all chief ministers from across the country was convened by Prime Minister Modi to discuss the Land Acquisition Bill, which the Centre has struggled to pass in the Rajya Sabha.