Lucknow, July 5 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday spoke almost in one voice as they termed Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's 'padyatra' (march) in western areas of the state a "political gimmick" and "a drama."

 
 Issued almost simultaneously, the BSP's and BJP's press releases advised Gandhi to instead "use his influence on the central government to expedite the amendments in the land acquisition laws which have been pending for a long time".
 
 Both accused Gandhi of playing the "farmers' card" without caring to address the core issue that actually led to exploitation of farmers, and said it was the duty of the United Progressive Alliance government to bring the long-pending Land Acquisition (Amendment) bill to parliament.
 
 While BJP's former president Rajnath Singh in the release accused the Congress of sitting on the bill for a long time, the BSP press release, issued on behalf of Chief Minister Mayawati, warned that her party would disrupt the proceedings of parliament if the Congress fails to introduce the amendment bill during the forthcoming monsoon session.
 
 The BSP release also challenged Gandhi to cite one example of a Congress-ruled state where the land-acquisition policy was more farmer-friendly than Uttar Pradesh. "In fact, if Rahul was truly a well-wisher of farmers, he should adopt  the policy framed by the UP government," it said.