Company says not averse to talking to anyone.
The controversy around the acquisition of land for Tata Motors’ factory in Singur took a new turn today with the opposition Trinamool Congress (TC) inviting the company for talks to settle the dispute.
“Tata Motors is not averse to talking to anybody,” the company said in its response.
As the Trinamool controls local panchayat bodies in the area, the meeting is unavoidable if the project is to get statutory approvals.
On August 5, Banerjee had appealed to company Chairman Ratan Tata to listen to the voice of the locals, who she said had voted out the CPI(M) and elected the Trinamool candidates in the May panchayat elections in Singur.
The state government is firmly backing the project and both Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and state Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said on August 6 that no land could be returned to the farmers. The Trinamool is demanding the return of 350-odd acres to farmers whose land has been allegedly acquired forcibly.
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Banerjee alleged that more land than needed was acquired. She said the Maruti Suzuki factory occupied less land and produced many more cars than the proposed Tata Motors’ factory. Singur had elected Trinamool representatives to all three levels of the panchayat structure in the May elections, in which the Left Front suffered major setbacks and lost half the districts in the state.
The state government recently posted 850 more policemen at the site citing a threat from the Naxalites. This number is expected to be raised by August 24, when the Trinamool plans to build a series of platforms around the site to protest against the acquisition of land.
Interestingly, the land acquisition was upheld by the Calcutta High Court and though the petitioners had moved the Supreme Court, the apex court refused to issue a stay.