The Congress, which is a part of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand (along with the JMM-RJD) in the poll-bound state, has suddenly woken up to a demand raised for the last few years by rights outfit on repealing of the amendment to the land acquisition law done by previous Raghubar Das-led BJP government.

Congress state president Keshav Mahato and leader of Congress legislative party Rameshwar Oraon who is also state finance minister on Tuesday wrote a letter to chief minister Hemant Soren demanding immediate repeal of the provision of land bank and the land acquisition amendment with barely few months left for Assembly poll.

The JMM, Congress, RJD and other Opposition parties had staged protests in 2018 against the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Jharkhand Amendment) Act 2017 and had announced repealing the Act after forming the government during the 2019 Assembly poll.

The then Raghubar Das (at present Odisha governor) led BJP government in Jharkhand had brought an amendment in the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, through a bill passed in the Jharkhand Assembly in August 2017.

The bill had done away with the impact assessment clause to allow government-sponsored developmental projects leading to protests among tribals. The gazette notification was issued in June 2018.

Similarly, there was resentment among tribal communities which was supported by opposition parties including the JMM, and the Congress about the creation of land banks.

Right outfits alleged that the land bank had been created by Das and was aimed at attracting investment in the state by allocating land to corporates for establishing industries during the “Momentum Jharkhand” — an investment promotion campaign between 2016-2018.

However, the tribal groups and rights outfits alleged foul play.