The Left Front today set into motion to get Tata Motors back to the state, and may be inviting the company's management to a meeting as soon as possible even as reports trickled in of a farmer committing suicide at Singur who had given land to the project and accepted compensation for it but was allegedly struggling with poverty because the compensation was not enough.
The government, which approached West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on August 2 to act a intermediary in its bid to work out a peace with Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress (TC) on the Singur issue, may fall back on the governor to help out on this as well and use his office to get the Tatas back, sources here indicated.
The governor was reluctant to take up the responsibility and the task may be passed on a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court acceptable to both sides. West Bengal industries minister Nirupam Sen had indicated yesterday, after news of the Tata decision to suspend work at Singur spread, that he would approach the Tatas to reconsider.
This move was endorsed by the state Left Front and the CPI(M) late at night. In a parallel development, a group of people with placards said to be locals blocked National Highway 2 a short distance away from the protest platforms set up by Banerjee, demanding that she leave Singur so that work at the plant could proceed.
Banerjee alleged they were CPI(M) agitators in disguise and they were a part of a Left plan to put pressure on her and her supporters ahead of the peace process initiated by the governor. Pro-CPI(M) groups and Trinamool Congress sparred occasionally at different localities in Singur through the day and supporters of Banerjee travelling to her protest platform alleged they were being stopped and threatened on the highway.
