Chandigarh, Jul 28 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday slammed the AAP government in Punjab over its land pooling policy, calling it a "land grabbing scheme".
He also said that SAD would intensify its agitation against land "grab" by holding 'dharnas', after the first protest was held in Mohali on Monday.
The AAP government has been facing flak from the opposition parties, which dubbed its land pooling policy a "looting" scheme to "rob" the farmers of their land.
Accusing AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of being behind this scheme, Badal told reporters on the sidelines of the protest in Mohali, "It is not a land pooling scheme, but land grabbing scheme. People of Punjab, including the poor and farmers, will not allow them (the government) to implement this policy.
"Shiromani Akali Dal will not allow one inch of land to be acquired in the state… We will fight the farmers' battle.”
AAP has hit out at the opposition parties for spreading “misleading propaganda” against the land pooling policy, with party leaders describing it as "farmer-friendly".
The Punjab Cabinet last month gave its nod to the land pooling policy and asserted that not a single yard will be forcibly acquired from the land owners.
Under the land pooling policy, a land owner will be given a 1,000 square yard residential plot and a 200 square yard commercial plot in fully developed land in lieu of one acre of land, the state government said.
After clearing the policy last month, the government said it was designed to foster transparent and planned urban development across the state.
Addressing the gathering in Mohali, Badal said, "The magnitude of land loot by the Delhi masters of the AAP government in Punjab has no precedent in history. And there is no development rationale behind it.”
"The 2,000 acres acquired for the Aerotropolis project in Mohali is still not utilised, while the government is going ahead with grabbing another 3,535 acres in its extension alone," Badal alleged.
The Akali Dal chief reiterated that his party would not allow the government "to grab even an inch of farmers' land”.
"I am ready to sacrifice anything but we will never allow any land to be taken by the government without the farmers' prior consent," he said.
"In sharp contrast to Arvind Kejriwal's dictatorial approach, the then SAD government led by Parkash Singh Badal implemented a policy prepared in consultation with and consent of the farmers through a committee, which comprised the local sarpanch for fixation of the prevailing market price of the land in question.
"We ensured that the farmers got 400 per cent of the prevailing land price. And even after this, the land acquisition was made subject to the consent of the farmers or land owners," Badal added.