Dadri, Sept. 30: Sonia Gandhi today said a bill to amend the 19th-century land acquisition act to end the “exploitation” of farmers was being prepared for passage in Parliament.

Addressing a farmers’ rally in this Uttar Pradesh town in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress president called for transparent land acquisition, building her arguments on the agitation in Badalpur.

The native village of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayavati witnessed protests by farmers in July this year. Congress leaders had courted arrest in the fight for better compensation for landlosers.

The Uttar Pradesh government had acquired land for developing Badalpur into a tourist destination.

“We have prepared an amendment bill on land acquisition. I hope it will be passed in Parliament so that farmers’ exploitation stops,” Sonia told a mammoth gathering at a college ground.

If farmers were opposed to acquisition, she said, “uska jawab lathi aur goli nahin hai (the answer does not lie in lathis and bullets)”.

Haryana chief minister B.S. Hooda, who attended the rally, told the farmers about the high prices his government was offering for land.

Other leaders like Ghaziabad MP Surendra Goel and Sachin Pilot asked the farmers to raise their voice against injustice and Mayavati’s alleged forced land acquisition.

The first right to the government’s treasury, Sonia said, was of the farmers, workers and the poor. The UPA chairperson also referred to the Rs 66,000-crore package announced by finance minister P. Chidambaram in this year’s budget to bail out debt-burdened farmers.

While criticising the Mayavati government for not doing enough to provide power and water to farmers and businessmen in urban areas, Sonia sneaked in the nuclear deal as well.

She said once the deal was activated, power generation would increase, which would not only help farmers and encourage new businesses but also create employment opportunities.