New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) A group of Congress MPs, led by party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday to seek the introduction of the land acquisition bill in parliament in the monsoon session and its passage in the winter session.

The group, comprising 16 MPs, submitted a memorandum to the prime minister here in which they made the demand.

The memorandum noted that the rural development ministry had circulated a draft Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill for public debate as well as for inter-ministerial consultations.

"We welcome this bill and believe it is in keeping with the interests of the people of India and the priorities and policies of the Congress party.

"We understand that this bill has received broad support from across a wide cross-section of society. We urge that this bill be introduced in this monsoon session of parliament itself," the memorandum released here said.

The memorandum also noted that after the bill is introduced, it will, of course, be referred to the standing committee, at which time there will be more opportunities for the public to send in their comments and suggestions.

"We urge that the government take steps to ensure that the bill may be brought for debate and passage in the winter session of parliament," it added.

The memorandum has been signed by MPs Arun Yadav, Bhakta Charan Das, Pradeep Majhi, Thokchom Meinya, Harish Choudhary, Sachin Pilot, Uday Pratap Singh, Deepender Hooda, Vikrambhai Madam, Raghuvir Singh Meena, P.T. Thomas, Ravneer Singh Bittu, R. Dhruvanarayana, Raj Babbar and Anantha Vekatarami Reddy, apart from Rahul Gandhi.