Mamata Banerjee is ready for talks. “The door for discussion is still open,” she said at a gathering in Singur on Sunday, adding, “(But) we will not call off the dharna, till we get back the 400 acres.”
The softening of the Trinamool Congress leader is being attributed to a Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi wrote to her asking to her to agree to talks.
A Trinamool panel met the governor on Sunday afternoon. This was followed by Mamata’s statement. “The doors of discussion haven’t yet been shut. They are still open if the government wants.
“We are ready to sit but only if the issue of land is raised. Even we want Tata factory and want it in Singur itself but it should go hand in hand with agriculture. While Tata factory can come up on 60 per cent of the land, farming should be allowed on the remaining 40 percent.”
Mamata said that if needed, five to 10 acres more could be given for industrialisation. But this was possible only if the state government was willing to discuss the issue of returning land.
While she suggested that the ancillary units be shifted to the opposite side of the Tata site, she was quick to point out that according to information available with them several CPM-backed promoters had already purchased large plots of land close to the factory. (With Inputs from Drimi Chaudhuri)
While she suggested that the ancillary units be shifted to the opposite side of the Tata site, she was quick to point out that according to information available with them several CPM-backed promoters had already purchased large plots of land close to the factory. (With Inputs from Drimi Chaudhuri)