All India Kisan Khet Majdoor Sangathan (AIKKMS) has welcomed the State government’s decision to drop land acquisition at Devanahalli but condemned in strong terms the subsequent Congress government’s statement on procuring land from farmers willing to sell.

In a press release issued here, State secretary of AIKKMS B. Bhagavan Reddy has said that the statement by the State government that farmland will be procured from farmers willing to sell at a higher price is nothing but giving a free hand to real estate barons and the land mafia to acquire land which is highly condemnable.

The Congress government’s stand means that it will facilitate conversion of farmland in the green belt, he said.

Mr. Reddy said that the AIKKMS State committee will urge the State government to ban purchase of farmland by private entities as protecting traditional farming land is the duty of the government. The government should not allow capitalists and corporate houses to acquire farmland, he said.

Welcomed

The Dharwad district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), according to a press release from district secretary of the party Mahesh Pattar, has welcomed the State government’s decision on quashing the land acquisition notification pertaining to Devanahalli and thanked all the organisations that stood with the farmers in taking their fight against forcible land acquisition to a logical end.

The CPI(M) also thanked Samyukta Horata, Karnataka for providing the required force to the agitation to exert more pressure on the government. It also paid tribute to the State president of Karnataka Pranta Raita Sangha who guided the agitation in the beginning but passed away mid-way, the release said.