Mystery trip over, Gandhi attacks Modi on farm crisis

By Frank Jack Daniel

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing farmers in a rare speech to parliament on Monday, sharpening an attack on the government after a long vacation that raised questions about the opposition leader's future.

Looking rested following a mystery two-month break that reportedly included a meditation retreat, Gandhi criticised Modi over a plan to make it easier for industry to buy rural land, at a time when farmers are suffering crop losses and depressed incomes.

Undeterred by the splashy return, the government introduced the land reform to parliament on Monday, showing Modi's determination to drive through reforms aimed at industrialising India despite the political risks.

"This is a government of big people, of suited and booted people," said Gandhi, the political heir to India's most famous family and great-grandson of the country's first prime minister.

It was his first major speech to parliament in nearly four years.

Gandhi led his Congress party to its worst ever defeat in the election against Modi last year with a pro-poor campaign that misjudged the nation's aspirational mood.

Two-thirds of voters live in villages, making rural distress a potent political issue. But with four years left in his term and a strong mandate for economic growth, Modi appears willing to push potentially unpopular reforms.

The government passed a slew of reforms to open the economy and rein in subsidies before a March recess in parliament's budget session, and now wants to cap Modi's first year with a new national sales tax and amendments to a land law he says has halted industrial development.

Gandhi's speech came during a rowdy day in parliament, with the government on the offensive to push the land rules and the Congress party leading opposition protests that saw the lower house adjourned twice.

Despite a record of electoral defeats and a part-time approach to politics highlighted by an eight-week absence from India that ended on Friday, Gandhi is expected to take over the presidency of the Congress party from his mother.

Party insiders say there is an internal tussle between the old guard and Gandhi's younger aides. In a sign of the dynastic nature of the party, the three youngsters at Gandhi's side in parliament were all second- or third-generation party leaders.

Modi's government has a majority in the lower house but will struggle to pass its decree in the upper house, where opposition parties dominate. If it fails again, Modi's next step might be to call a rare joint session of both houses, a senior government source said.

In such a scenario, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allies would command a majority, but would face renewed criticism that they were strong-arming the democratic process.

Modi's determination to pass the land law stems from the conviction that existing rules requiring businesses to win consent from 80 percent of landowners before purchase will derail the government's industrial development agenda.

Industry bodies blame the land law passed in 2013 for delays in the construction of power projects, highways and airports.

Modi was elected on the promise of creating jobs and modernising India's creaking infrastructure.

(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty and Rupam Jain Nair; Editing by Mike Collett-White)