Entire opposition is against new land bill: Mulayam Singh Yadav

New Delhi, Feb 24: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday slammed the Centre for "taking an anti-farmer stand" with the introduction of controversial land acquisition bill in Lok Sabha and warned of its serious implications for the future of the country.

He said the government should have evolved a consensus before its introduction and that the concerns of the farmers should have been adequately addressed in the legislation.

"The entire opposition is against the Bill and we are surprised that this government is time and again taking anti-farmer stand and is favouring industrialised.

"Farmer has nothing except the land in his possession. Farmer's consent is must," he told reporters outside Parliament and referred to a similar legislation passed by his government in Uttar Pradesh which makes the consent of farmers mandatory and provides adequate compensation to the affected ones.

Yadav: Farmer has nothing except the land in his possession

"It (the Bill) will have serious implications for the country in future," he warned. Singh said he was unaware of an all party meet called by the government to discuss the bill and said such a move should have been initiated before the introduction of the legislation.

The introduction of the Bill in Lok Sabha was marred by protest with Opposition parties staging a walk-out, alleging it was "anti-farmer and anti-poor".

PTI