The meeting was held to review the implementation and effectiveness of the “Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013”.
The BJP MPs claimed the committee’s chairman kept the members unaware about the witnesses summoned for deposition. Ulaka stated that the names had been approved by the Speaker’s office of the Lok Sabha, but the BJP leaders were “not ready to listen.”
On Tuesday, 14 of the 29 members of the parliamentary panel were present, and with eight MPs from the BJP-led NDA skipping the meeting, Ulaka was forced to terminate it due to a lack of quorum. According to BJP sources, along with their party’s MPs, ally Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda joined them.
According to Congress sources, Deve Gowda did not boycott the meeting, The Indian Express reported.
The BJP members got ‘agitated’ when they spotted Patkar and Raj and refused to enter the conference chamber. They demanded that Patkar, the face of the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ protest, be sent back. Raj, a well-known actor, is popular for his anti-BJP stance.
The BJP MPs are said to have questioned Ulaka about inviting ‘anti-nationals’. According to one MP, if people like Patkar and Raj were invited to testify before a parliamentary panel, the next time they might invite the ‘prime minister of Pakistan.’ Another reportedly complained about ‘urban Naxals’ being called to Parliament.
BJP MP Purushottam Rupala, who led the protest, claimed that Medha Patkar had long resisted national development initiatives, especially projects critical to Gujarat’s water resources. “She has no moral standing to speak on such matters before the committee,” Rupala allegedly told members, adding that “if it were up to her, half of Gujarat would be drought-stricken.”
Speaking with The Indian Express, BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said, “We boycotted the meeting because we were kept in the dark about who was coming as witnesses. We entered and saw Medha Patkar sitting there. We should have been given the list of these people and which NGO they belong to. How could the chairman keep such information from us?”
According to ruling party members, Ulaka rejected their offer to hear senior officials from the Department of Land Resources, as well as the ministries of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Tribal Affairs, who were also invited on Tuesday. “We were very clear that we would not allow the activists to depose first,” Jaiswal added.
“It was not decided in any of the meetings who would come to the parliamentary committee. Prakash Raj’s name was not in the list. Why should we listen to someone whose background we don’t know?” BJP MP Raju Bista stated.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee mentioned that the Speaker’s office was informed, and the list of witnesses was approved. “We had such meetings several times. It is a normal procedure; the agenda was set, officers from the ministries concerned and the stakeholders, including those who are working in NGOs and other civil society representatives, were invited. However, when they (BJP MPs) saw Medha Patkar, they, in a synchronised way, started shouting, ‘She should not be allowed.’ I told them just listen to her as she is someone who has been fighting for the landless people and their rehabilitation,” Ulaka said.
Patkar expressed surprise at the BJP MPs’ behaviour, saying she’s appeared before parliamentary committees before and never experienced anything like this.
In addition to Patkar and Raj, the committee had invited ten additional civil society representatives.
