The decision comes following a letter from the Land and Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah to the state Assembly, who cited strong differences of opinion among the members of the select committee set up for reconsideration of the Bill’s provisions.

The select committee has a majority of Left Front MLAs.

Md. Massih, chief whip of the Left Front in the Assembly, confirmed Mollah’s letter and said the Bill would be withdrawn subsequently.

The proposed Bill envisaged major changes in the current Act to offer the right to possess land in excess of the existing ceiling for setting up modern industries. But soon after being tabled, it ran into opposition from Left Front MLAs and was then referred to the select committee, where members raised objections to it.

“The members of the select committee were not unanimous about the Bill. So there was no other option than to withdraw the Bill,” Mollah said.

According to the current Act, there are provisions for possessing excess land for tea gardens and jute mills, but in the Bill, the government wanted to include more industries into the list.

CPM sources said Section 14 (q) of the Amendment Bill had proposed to lift the ceiling to attract investment in areas of tourism, infrastructure, urban construction and infrastructural development.