Will return land when back in power: Congress

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Tuesday promised, on return to power, to bring a special legislation to return all the land forcibly acquired by the State Government for the proposed Posco steel plant project. Strongly reacting to the State Government's declaration of the dharna by the antiPosco activists at Gobindpur as illegal, the Congress said all citizens of the country had a right to protest and demand fulfilment of their right, OPCC chief spokesperson Arjya Kumar Gyanendra said. Dharna or protest by people cannot be foiled by the government in the name of ensuring peace in the area, he added.
Criticising the State Government for acting as the agent of Posco, Gyanendra alleged that it had failed to keep the assurance of the Chief Minister that no person will be evicted from his land forcibly. Gyanendra warned the Government of Kalinga Nagarlike situation if force was used at Gobindpur.The State Government should learn from Singur experiment in West Bengal where people have hit back at the Left Front by voting it out in the Assembly election for forcibly evicting them from their land, Gyanendra said.