Staff Reporter :The Indian Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the ‘Land Boundary Agreement [LBA] Bill’ apparently with a view to operationalising the bilateral treaty with Bangladesh that includes territories in Assam along with West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya. The Cabinet chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the much-talked about bill that is likely to come up in Rajya Sabha [Upper House of Indian Parliament] today [Wednesday. Later, the bill would be placed in Loksavha [the Lower House of India’s Bicameral-Parliament] on Thursday for final approval, according to Indian media. Earlier, the Assam Unit of ruling party BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] created press on the central government to delink Assam from LBA Bill. But due to severe pressure from main opposition Congress, the Modi-government on Monday night decided to clear the bill along with Assam. Although the Indian government had earlier proposed to bring the bill in Lok Sabha, it faced stiff opposition from the opposition that wanted that territories in Assam be included in it. At present, the inclusion of Assam territories in the Bill indicates that Indian government decided to get the legislation cleared after bringing all parties on board. But at first, the Indian government will have to bring the 119 Constitutional Amendment Bill for ratification of the LBA, which would require at least 50 per cent of the state legislatures before it comes into effect. It is learnt that the incumbent Modi government has speed up the process to clear the bill as the Lok Savha session will be ended on May 8 [Friday]. If the Constitution Amendment Bill is not passed by this time, it would delay the Indian Premier’s proposed Bangladesh visit in June next.Quoting highly placed sources, the India media also reported that the Government of India has already talked to various parties in the Upper House, where an earlier bill in this regard is pending since December 2013. The clearing of the Bill by Union Cabinet comes a day after the top leadership of BJP and RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] discussed the bill with its Assam leaders and decided to include the territories pertaining to the state. The meeting, attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, along with RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal, held at the residence of BJP chief Amit Shah. Assam State BJP President Siddharth Bhattacharya was also called on emergency basis in the meeting that lasted a few hours.According to information available, the meeting discussed details of LBA Bill, strong objection of Congress [about delinking Assam], Tarun Gogoi’s letter to PM, relation with neighbouring countries, and importance of good bilateral relation with Bangladesh. The meeting decided not to linger the treaty anymore for the India’s greatest interest, which has been kept unsettled for last 42 years. It was also decided that the bill would be clear unchanged and the leaders of BJP Assam Unit would face any subsequent impact politically. “We had earlier tried to clear the bill delinking Assam. But we did never want to make the bill futile. And so, we have decided to bring the bill unchanged. It proves that BJP gives priority to country’s interest,” State President of BJP Assam Siddharth Bhattacharya said. Sources said the top BJP and RSS leadership discussed the Assam Assembly elections [Vidhan Sabha] slated for next year and the party’s strategy for it as also the political ramifications of delinking Assam from the LBA Bill. The BJP leaders from the state had earlier demanded that Assam should be delinked from the Bill as exchange of territories to Bangladesh had become an “emotive issue” in the state. Sources said the proposal to bring the Bill was deferred earlier after Congress strongly opposed the exclusion of Assam from the ambit of the LBA. While the government has got various states, including Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya, on board on the issue, its decision to keep Assam out of it has irked the Congress which rules that state.The LBA was signed between Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and then Indian premier Indira Gandhi in May 1974. The two leaders even fixed practical time frames for completion of various steps for the Agreement to be implemented. But it delayed for 42 years creating tremendous suffering for thousands of people in the disputed enclaves [chhitmahols].
