The President, Pranab Mukherjee is believed to have asked Arun Jaitley on why the government is rushing ahead with the new land acquisition bill.
The Bill has already been approved in Parliament and is waiting for the President’s approval. In this regard, the President has asked for clarification and Arun Jaitley has responded to the President’s concerns.
The President’s concerns could have been genuine, just an occasion to assert his highly limited authority in the system or aimed at pleasing the Congress of which he was a key member before taking over as President.
With all due respect to the Honorable President, when the Bill for division of Andhra Pradesh came to him for approval, he did not hesitate at all in affixing his signature for bifurcation was a decision of the Congress.
It is precisely these kinds of double standards that give rise to allegations that even as President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee is behaving like a Congress man rather than retaining the sanctity of his office.
