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'I didn't drive out Tatas from Singur, it was…': Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee was addressing ‘Bijaya Sammilani’, where prominent personalities and Durga Puja committees of the eight districts of the northern part of the state were invited.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress came to power after dislodging the Left government in 2011 on the back of the anti-land acquisition movement at Singur in Hooghly district, on Wednesday claimed that she didn't drive the Tatas out, but it was the CPI(M). "They acquired land forcibly, I returned it to unwilling owners," Banerjee.
Addressing ‘Bijaya Sammilani’ in Siliguri, where prominent personalities and Durga Puja committees of the eight districts of the northern part of the state were invited, Banerjee said she wants to create job opportunities for the youth of Bengal by building factories and hotels, and make the state a tourist destination of the world.
"Some people are saying nonsense that I drove out Tatas. Now, Tata is giving jobs. It was the CPM. They had claimed the land by force. We gave back the land… We don't discriminate against any industrialist," the Bengal chief minister said.
Mamata also said, "There is no shortage of land. Why take land by force? We have done so many projects. We have not taken land by force anywhere. As many industrialists as we have here, everyone should invest in Bengal. Create employment in Bengal."
CPI(M)'s central committee member Sujan Chakraborty was quick to hit back at Banerjee. "Mamata Banerjee doesn't really want to listen. It's uncomfortable... Durgapur Expressway was closed so that Tata could not build a factory in Singur," Chakraborty was quoted as saying by ABP Bangla.
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In 2006, immediately after the seventh Left Front government came to power in West Bengal with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as the chief minister, Tata Motors had announced the setting up of Nano factory at Singur.
However, Trinamool Congress under the leadership of Banerjee started a massive movement against the project alleging forceful land acquisition by the state government for the project.
Eventually, in October 2008, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata announced pulling out of Singur. Gujarat’s Sanand became the new destination for the Nano factory.
