Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee today rejected a fresh invitation from West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for talks to break the deadlock at the upcoming Tata Motors’ Nano plant at Singur near here.
Banerjee started an indefinite dharna at Singur on Sunday, demanding that the 400 acres taken from “unwilling farmers” for the project should be returned to them. The company can instead be given 500 acres of land nearby, she has said.
Reacting to the fresh offer, Banerjee said that she would discuss the issue with the state government only after the 400 acres were returned to the farmers. Refusing to call off her agitation, Banerjee alleged Bhattacharjee had earlier backed out on his promise to discuss the Singur issue when she was on a 26-day hunger-strike in Kolkata in 2006.
On Bhattacharjee’s part, it was a clear climb down as he had earlier categorically said that the 400 acres cannot be returned. Today, addressing a press conference at Writers Building, the state secretariat, Bhattacharjee said that he was ready to discuss any issue with Banerjee. “All issues raised by her party can be discussed at the highest level,” he added.
Commenting on Banerjee's rejection of the offer of talks, West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen said: “What can we do if she rejects it? She is opposing for the sake of opposition.”
Left Front Chairman Biman Bose welcomed Bhattacharjee’s fresh invitation and said Banerjee should place her demands on the negotiating table.
Bhattacharjee’s fresh offer seems to be prompted from fears of losing the project. “We are facing a peculiar situation today since many of the state governments have come forward to grab the project. It is our duty to keep the project in the state,” said he.
Ever since the recent agitation started at Singur and Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata said that he would abandon the project if the land was not given, several states have made offers to the company to host the prestigious project. The list includes Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Orissa and Himachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the siege led by Banerjee was peaceful today, though work at the Tata Motors factory was affected.
A Tata Motors spokesperson said that attendance of construction workers was low but executives made it to the factory. It, however, blocked the Durgapur Expressway (National Highway 2), the 65 km stretch between Palsit and Kolkata, causing major problems in cargo and passenger movement.
Sandipan Chakravortty, the managing director of Tata Ryerson, one of the ancillary units at Singur, said attendance was low and only the basic workers reported for work. However he was hopeful that normal attendance would be restored from tomorrow.
Reacting to the developments, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that incidents of protests will shake investor confidence, particularly in West Bengal.
“We have to attract investments. Incidents and such events obviously shed the confidence of the investor, especially in the particular state in which it is,” he said.
