Land Boundary Agreement on political gimmick again

INDIA’S main opposition Congress yesterday opposed the BJP government’s move to keep northeastern Indian state of Assam out of implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh. Sources said Congress, at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Rajya Sabha, conveyed to the government that it will oppose the bill unless Assam is included in the deal.
The Constitution Amendment Bill aimed at operationalising the LBA was expected to be placed at the Rajya Sabha next week. Sources said the bill has been deferred for the time being with the Congress opposing the exclusion of Assam from the ambit of the LBA. The BJP wants to exclude Assam from the deal due to sensitivities in the state where BJP aspires to come to power through assembly polls due early next year. The BJP unit in Assam has opposed the exchange of enclaves between Bangladesh and India involving the territory of Assam since the party fears LBA implementation by including the state will have adverse impact on its electoral prospects in Assam.
The Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement involves Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya in India. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she had given her consent to the LBA with Bangladesh during her discussion on the issue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The LBA agreement envisages transfer of 111 Indian enclaves to Bangladesh while 51 enclaves to India. Through the swapping of adversely possessed land, India will gain 700 acres of land. The deal also includes demarcation of 6.5-km undemarcated boundary. After a prolonged delay, the Congress government attempted to table LBA Constitution Amendment Bill in parliament when it was in power, but the then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid failed thrice to introduce the comprehensive land boundary settlement with Bangladesh in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament, amid protests by the main opposition BJP, Asom Gana Parishad and the Trinamool Congress.
Now in opposition, it is the turn of the Congress to oppose the deal. It will be difficult for the BJP government to pass the Bill in the Rajya Sabha as it does not have an absolute majority there. Certain Indian political parties have failed to understand that the exchange of enclaves denotes only a theoretical exchange of land because those are located deep inside the two countries and there has hardly been any direct access to them since 1947.
No one knows whether the current BJP government can get the 126 votes necessary to get the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha. It would seem that the Bill is once again destined for the No Mans Land in the political legislation scenario of India due to the non cooperation of the Congress. Hopefully sane heads will look at the ground reality of the situation and see that no other options exist.