Nothing new in president's address: Congress

The Congress Monday said President Pranab Mukherjee's address to parliament had "nothing new", with party president Sonia Gandhi calling it a revamp of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) policies.

"There is nothing new. These are only revamping some of the old UPA policies and presenting it," Sonia Gandhi told reporters Monday while reacting to the president's speech.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, however, slammed the government for working at the behest of some industrialists.

"Where is the 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'(taking everyone along, development for all) the government was talking about? The NDA government has taken everyone's support but is working for the development of some industrialists and corporates," Kharge told reporters.

"The law that they are making will only take away farmers' land," Kharge said.

Kharge also said that the skill development programme mentioned in the president's speech was a UPA policy.

"What they are saying about skill development was already started by the UPA government. The speeches they used to give in rallies, they printed and asked the president to repeat in parliament," he said.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said there was no question of the Congress supporting the government on land acquisition.

"There is no question of supporting the land acquisition ordinance. It is anti-farmer and Congress will not accept it in the present form. The government is working under pressure of some industrialists," Tiwari told IANS.