Bhopal, Nov 18 A day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav revoked the land pooling policy in the religious city Ujjain, the Opposition Congress demanded that the state government should withdraw this controversial land acquiring scheme from across the state.
Congress leader Mahesh Parmar, who is a sitting MLA from Ujjain's Tarana Assembly constituency, talking to IANS, said on Tuesday that a collective fight of farmers and other social organisations have forced the state government to withdraw the controversial land pooling policy.
"It's a victory for farmers, who refused to accept the BJP government's proposals and decided to oppose the land pooling policy in Ujjain. But real victory will come when this controversial scheme will be withdrawn from across Madhya Pradesh. Congress will continue to fight for the farmers," Parmar told IANS in Bhopal.
The Congress MLA also alleged that farmers who had refused to give their lands under the (revoked) policy were harassed through fake charges, but they stood firm to save their land.
He said that when the scheme was brought into the state Assembly, Congress had opposed it.
"Even several BJP leaders had opposed the scheme. They couldn't say anything, but they were supporting the farmers, which made CM Mohan Yadav to withdraw it eventually. Whenever the Congress opposed this policy, some senior BJP leaders were highlighting benefits from it. Now where are those benefits?" the Congress MLA asked.
The land pooling scheme was introduced in 2024 with an aim of building a permanent structure, including roads, buildings, Ashrams, as part of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in 2028 with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in Ujjain.
Until now the state government used to build temporary infrastructure for Simhastha Kumbh Mela, that takes place every 12 years in Ujjain.
The scheme was seen as an ambitious attempt by CM Yadav, who is an MLA from Ujjain, to transform it into a major pilgrim city.
The move, however, has met with constant opposition from hundreds of farmers from the region.
The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) had also led a major tractor rally in Ujjain in September in protest of the scheme.
The move comes amid protests from various farmer organisations and a day before a planned major agitation in Ujjain on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the BKS has now called off its planned agitation.
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