Governor summons CM, Singur face-off continues

West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi today took the unusual step of summoning Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen to discuss the Trinamool Congress' stir against the acquisition of farm land for the Tatas' small car plant at Singur.

The meeting failed to break the deadlock.

Sources told Business Standard that the governor handed over to the chief minister a list of names of Singur farmers who had complained in writing, through the Trinamool Congress, that their land had been taken over forcibly.

Just before the Raj Bhavan meeting, Sen held a marathon meeting with Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) Managing Director Debasis Som.

Earlier in the day, the governor met a Trinamool delegation comprising opposition leader Partho Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy. The leaders demanded that the government return the 350 acres of land that it had acquired forcibly. They submitted an affidavit in support of their claim. The affidavit reportedly had the signatures of farmers who were unwilling to hand over their land for the project.

Around 1.30 pm, Gandhi went to the dharna manch of Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee and requested her to end the hunger strike.

However, the Trinamool leader said she would continue till the state government listened to the farmers and returned their land.

The issue is proving to be a headache for the state government. Chambers of commerce in the city confirmed that visits of foreign delegations had been cancelled or put on hold because of agitations and disruptions on the issue.

This was especially after the complete bandh enforced by the CPI(M)'s trade union arm, CITU, on December 14, when the entire manufacturing sector and much of the services sector were shut down.

A planned visit by the industry minister and Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen to meet investors in the United States was also on hold, though state government officials denied that any such visit had been worked out.