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PM Narendra Modi promises better life for farmers

Fresh land ordinance gets President's nod

BENGALURU: On a day the President gave his nod to the re-promulgation of the land acquisition ordinance, PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah , in an aggressive concert, reiterated that the government would not blink on the bill.Amit Shah accused rivals of spreading "falsehoods" and emphasized that the legislation was pro-farmer. In his inaugural address to the BJP's two-day national executive here, he asked party workers to go to the people to counter the negative campaign being mounted by the opposition parties.The aggressive tone contrasted with the tentativeness that had gripped the party in the wake of the Delhi debacle where it returned a tally of just three in the 70-member assembly. Shah called it a "minor setback" amid a string of victories and said the party was analysing the result. "The opposition is desperate, hopeless and directionless. They should stop finding faults and shortcomings which do not exist. Instead of raising non-issues and fictional issues, they should find out where their leader is," Shah said in a barely disguised jibe at Rahul Gandhi, who is on leave.Modi added, "Those spreading lies do not know how to protect the interests of farmers. I have not come from the heavens. I have lived among villagers and poor people and have reached here...I know that India will not make progress till villages develop and till farmers make progress."Listing out the achievements of the Modi government, BJP president Amit Shah said there was a sea change in the mood of the country in the last 10 months. He claimed that scams under the UPA government totalled over Rs 5 lakh crore, but after the BJP assumed charge, "hope had returned to the country".Shah also announced that the BJP had become the largest party in the world with 9.25 crore members and said it was well on its way to cross the 10 crore mark.This is the party's first national executive after Modi became PM and Shah took over as BJP president. It comes at a time when the government is locked in a standoff with opposition parties over the land bill .Shah, however, gave a clear indication that the party had no intention of backing off on a legislation that it sees as a major driver of growth. "The opposition has deliberately spread many misgivings about the bill which is in the interest of farmers. We will take the message to farmers. BJP is a friend of farmers. It is the farmers who have given us mandate," he said.The BJP chief alluded to 2014 as a "golden year" for the party. He said the year gone by saw the BJP returning to power at the Centre besides forming governments in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Singling out the victory in J&K as the "most significant", Shah said, "It is a mark of respect to the memory of Syama Prasad Mookerjee and a strengthening of nationalist forces which in turn takes care of the unity and security of the country."Shah also asked the party to get into social work, toeing the line that Modi had set on Thursday and said party workers should help the country get rid of manual scavenging and facilitate schemes like 'Beti bachao, beti padhao' for gender sensitization and help with long-term projects like Clean Ganga and Clean India.