Chennai: DMK on Tuesday criticised the Centre government for being 'adamant' by re-promulgating the land ordinance for an 'unprecedented' third time, saying it exposed the ruling BJP's 'double standards' on the issue.
Party President M Karunanidhi condemned the government for taking such a "regressive step."
With the government unable to pass the controversial bill in Rajya Sabha for want of majority and subsequently referring it to a parliamentary committee, "the intention behind re-promulgating the ordinance is not clear," he said.
"This two-pronged action (referring the bill to committee and repromulgation of ordinance) clearly exposes BJP's double standards," he said in a statement here.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that the Land Bill was 'not a matter of life or death' for him, Karunanidhi wondered what was the need to repromulgate it. This was "contradictory" to Modi's announcement.
"There is a doubt among (the people of the) country if the Bill is being brought to favour any individual or private companies," he said.
The ordinance getting Presidential approval on the recommendation of the cabinet was "against democratic ethos and closing the doors on freedom of expression," he said.
He said it was 'unprecedented' that an ordinance had been re-promulgated for the third time.
