`Next phase of Dadri march to culminate in demolition’

Special Correspondent

Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh to oppose "the law which does not give justice"

LUCKNOW: Jan Morcha convenor V.P. Singh announced here on Monday that the structures and boundary wall on the State Government-acquired land at Dadri would be pulled down by Morcha activists on January 9 notwithstanding Allahabad High Court orders to maintain the status quo on the land.

The former Prime Minister said the next phase of "Dadri March" would start from Agra on January 7 under Morcha Alliance president Raj Babbar, who would lead a "rath yatra" to the site of the proposed Reliance power plant. He said the yatra would culminate at Dadri on January 9 where the structures built so far would be demolished by his partymen.

Referring to the High Court order, the former Prime Minister said the Jan Morcha was in favour of justice but added, "the law which does not give justice should be opposed".

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Singh hit out at the Uttar Pradesh Government for acquiring farmers’ land for the proposed power plant even though there was no trace of the gas pipeline to bring it from Chennai for generating power. Mr. Singh said the boundary wall should have been constructed after the pipeline was laid, and alleged that the nature of the deal suggested that around 2500 acres of acquired land would be used for real estate development.

Stating that the Jan Morcha had been instrumental in bringing the acquisition of farmers’ land on the national agenda, Mr. Singh said the hypocrisy of the corporate sector should be exposed.

The former Prime Minister threatened to launch another agitation from Gorakhpur to Meerut, this time in protest against the sugar mill owners’ refusal to pay a reasonable cane price to the cane growers in accordance with the new State Advised Price (SAP) of Rs. 130 per quintal. He said the mill owners had not quoted the price in the quotations given to the farmers.

Cane farmers

Mr. Singh alleged that the State Government preferred to guard the interest of the mill owners rather than that of the cane farmers. He demanded a cane procurement price of Rs. 200 per quintal.

Mr. Singh urged the Government to clear the dues of the employees of closed public sector sugar mills.