India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress-led coalition government in New Delhi of ignoring ‘emotions’ of people living near the border with Bangladesh to ‘casually’ ink the additional protocol to the Land Boundary Agreement in September 2011.
“This is not just about land as emotions are also involved. And this Government went casually and signed the agreement,” said Sushma Swaraj, senior BJP parliamentarian and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP has been opposing the Congress-led coalition government’s move to ratify the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement and the protocol added to it during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September 2011.
“On the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, I wish to clarify that the BJP is completely against it,” she told journalists.
Some leaders of the main opposition party in India’s Parliament had initially indicated that it might not be averse to ratifying the deal and the 2011 protocol. The party, however, backed off, ostensibly under pressure from its units in the states of West Bengal and Assam, where the move by Indian government to ratify the deals with Bangladesh is being strongly opposed by the regional parties like Trinamool Congress and Asom Gana Parishad.
Trinamool Congress is in power in West Bengal, while Asom Gana Parishad is an opposition party in Congress-ruled Assam.
Swaraj said the BJP was opposed to ratification of the land deal and its additional protocol, as it would result in “transfer of 10000 acres of land” from India to Bangladesh.
“Without any ifs and buts, we had told the Prime Minister in a recent meeting that we will not support the Bill on this issue. The government had assured that it will not list it for discussion in Parliament as the main opposition party was not in agreement,” she said.
Singh had a meeting with Swaraj, and other senior BJP leaders like LK Advani, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh earlier this month to seek the support of the opposition party to ratify it in Parliament.
The Constitution of India needs to be amended to ratify the deal between New Delhi and Dhaka. India’s United Progressive Alliance government requires support of two-thirds of the members of Parliament to pass the Bill to amend the Constitution.
The government has been trying to reach out to the BJP and rest of the opposition seeking support to the Bill.
Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister of India, on Aug 19 last made an attempt to introduce the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha – the upper House of Parliament – but had to abort it amid stiff resistance from parliamentarians of the Trinamool Congress and Asom Gana Parishad.
Asom Gana Parishad’s MPs had earlier stalled a similar attempt by Khurshid to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha on May 7 last.
The Bill proposes to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution of India that lists the States of India and defines their territories.
When Foreign Minister Dipu Moni called on Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi on July 26, she was assured that the Bill would be introduced in Parliament during the Monsoon Session, which commenced on Aug 5 last.
Moni also had a meeting with Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, during her visit to New Delhi and sought his party’s support to the land deal. Jaitley, however, did not make any commitment to Moni. – bdnews24.com
