The 2011 West Bengal state elections will dictate the nature of land acquisition norms in India
The unambiguous mandate in favour of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the national general elections last year was hailed by all in the hope that it would allow the UPA to tackle many controversial policy issues more comprehensively. However, that may not be the case just yet.
The strong showing of the UPA in West Bengal, a state ruled by the Communist Party of India [Marxist] (CPM) since 1977, seems to have prompted the Centre to go slow in resolving the controversial and critical economic policy relating to land acquisition.
The Turning Point
In the 2004 elections, CPM won 26 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. Indian National Congress won just six, while AITC could muster only one.
Solutions
But Mukhopadhyay feels it is a step in the right direction. He feels if it’s a just and non-partisan government then it can always intervene if it sees people being exploited. “Since it has formal coercive powers, if the government is not fair then there is all the more reason for it to stop directly acquiring the land on behalf of any private entity,” he reasons.
(This story appears in the 05 February, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)