Unrelenting Mamata takes on Buddhadeb

Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 10:08 am

The stalemate over Singur only seems to be intensifying. Trinamool Chief Mamata Banerjee has taken the West Bengal Chief Minister head on, saying that he has no choice but to relent to her demands. However, an adamant Buddhadeb said that the first ‘Nano’ car will roll out of Singur.

Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee is on the warpath, refusing to entertain the desperate pleas from West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who is making a desperate effort to retain the Nano plant in Singur itself.

Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress is demanding return of 400 acres of land earmarked for setting up ancillary units to farmers, reacted saying “we don’t want anybody to move out… but at the same time, we will not bow to any kind of pressure.”

On Saturday (August 23), even as Ratan Tata is being wooed by other states, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had offered the olive branch to the dissenting farmers in Singur, offering to allocate additional land for farmers some 15kms away from Singur.

Tata’s withdrawing from the state would be a big blow to his government’s mission of attracting more investment. Furthermore the government’s inability to handle the law and order situation in Singur is a major blot on his record.

But with Mamata clearly calling the shots so far as Singur agitation is concerned, the government has little option but to let her march to Singur pass off peacefully.

Mamata asks partymen to lead peaceful agitation

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (August 23), appealed to her partymen to lead a peaceful agitation today at Singur, the site of the Tata Motors small car plant.

She also urged ruling Left Front partners RSP and Forward Bloc to join their indefinite dharna. “Our agitation will be peaceful and it will be a movement for the suffering masses,” Banerjee told mediapersons.

“I would like RSP and Forward Bloc to join the dharna,” she said, adding that 15 to 16 political parties and organisations would participate in the agitation.

Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, social activist Medha Patkar, journalist Kuldip Nayyar and writer Arundhati Roy are among them to be present there, she said.

Reiterating her stand that she would not relent till the 400 acres were returned to the owners, allegedly unwiling to part with their land, Banerjee said, “we have already offered a solution package to the West Bengal government to resolve the crisis in the interest of both agriculture and industry.”

She claimed that she has information that CPI(M) cadres may obstruct her journey to Singur, “but I’ve asked my party workers not to go for confrontation.”

Banerjee said that if obstructed, her partymen would stage a satyagraha on the road.

Holding the state government responsible for the crisis in Singur, Banerjee said, “this government has to resolve the problem by conceding the demand of returning 400 acres.

“We don’t want bloodshed or violence,” she said, adding that her movement would continue till the demand was met by the state government.

Asked to comment on her being projected as “anti-development” by the CPI(M), she said “whenever they fail to fight me politically, such allegations are levelled against me.”

On Ratan Tata’s threat to pull out of Singur, Banerjee said the dictum that “what I will tell is binding on you,” cannot be applied here.

(With inputs from PTI)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Unrelenting Mamata takes on Buddhadeb

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