West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday filed her nomination for Nandigram assembly seat, where she will take on her former protege and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari and exuded confidence of winning it saying she has never returned empty-handed from the land of anti-farm land acquisition movement.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday assured farmer leaders led by Rakesh Tikait and Yudhvir Singh of support to their agitation against the new agriculture laws.
Land, the core issue of contention, is now being acquired selectively for the sake of setting up new industries and that too in areas where agriculture is weak.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who backed Mamata Banerjee in the Singur agitation, on Friday warned the railway minister against acquiring land in eastern Uttar Pradesh for the corridor project, saying there would be a 'bloodbath' against the move.
Singur divided between those who want Tata back and those who just want their land.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for claiming that she was taking her job as railway minister lightly and said it was he who did not have "vision" for setting up the small car project at Singur.
At last, rays of hope have started shining on Singur factory land, which has been lying unutilised since the Tatas decided to shift their Nano factory from there on October 3, 2008, following relentless opposition by Trinamool Congress and its allies against the company's alleged 'illegal' acquisition of farm lands.
The project at Salboni was welcomed by people and political parties alike, manifested by festoons welcoming Sajjan Jindal from all parties along the road leading to the site. Jindal complemented the mood at the ceremony with his farmer-friendly speech. "Industry and agriculture go hand-in-hand. My father, O P Jindal, was a farmer and he told all his sons that no wrong must be done to farmers," he said.
The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday demanded from the West Bengal government that 300 acres of land should be given from within the Tata Motors project area in Singur to "unwilling farmers".
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday night formally announced suspension of the 15-day indefinite dharna, saying a final agreement has been arrived at by the West Bengal government on the Singur issue."Since the government has found a formula for the solution of the Singur issue officially, I am suspending the dharna," she said from the dharna manch, addressing a big gathering of cheering party supporters.She thanked Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
Bajaj Industries chairman Rahul Bajaj on Thursday said the government should change the archaic land acquisition rules in India to deal with contentious issues like Singur.
Asked about rumours that the Chief Minister was holding talks with key investors on the Singur controversy, Dhoot said, "The CM calls me every three months to know the progress. The Videocon group was hopeful of land acquisition with its compensation package which includes land price, job assurance and equity in the project.
'The land is partly with the government, partly with the company. In the changed economic scenario, I cannot say how quickly another plant will come up there,' said West Bengal's Industry Minister Nirupam Sen.
'We are bothered about the people's problems. The government forcefully and illegally occupied the land at Singur -- that's why we opposed the forceful occupation of the land,' said firebrand political leader Mamata Banerjee, who forced the Nano project to move out of Singur.
In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant spoke to reporters on the problems in Singur, the production site for the Nano, soon after announcing the company's quarterly results.
Alan Rosling, executive director, Tata Sons Limited, said on Monday in New York that it will be a sad day for the Tatas if the project to manufacture Nano, the company's Rs 1-lakh small car that has generated worldwide interest, cannot succeed in Singur, West Bengal.
The industry minister said the small car project could not come up if 400 acre was returned as demanded by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Nirupam Sen, who had discussed the Singur project with Tata in Kolkata on Thursday night, said that the state government wanted to work out a solution and was was open for talks to find out an acceptable solution.
Come ill-health, physical discomfort or family occasions, the men keep up the cheer and ensure their physical limitations don't cloud their optimism and their will to win the fight.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee asked authorities on Thursday to return land that was 'forcibly' acquired from farmers in Singur for the Tata Mators' project.
The protests are meant to highlight the plight of the hundreds of sharecroppers of Singur besides the 12,000 landowners whose land was acquired by the Bengal government for the Tata factory which is to make the small car.
An important political milestone during the year was the return of the Left Front to power with an over two-thirds majority.
Tata Motors expressed satisfaction over the progress of land acquisition for its proposed small car plant at Singur and plan to launch the vehicle in 2008 as scheduled.
Bhattacharjee, speaking at a function on the second day of the biennial national conference of the All India Lawyers' Union in Siliguri, stressed on the setting up of a national commission for accountability of judges.
The report appealed to the Left Front government 'to take a pro-people position, save farm land and farmers.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said on Thursday that he would continue to appeal to Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee to give up her indefinite fast on the Singur issue.
Road and rail traffic in Kolkata and surrounding areas was thrown out of gear on Tuesday following an hour-long blockade by the Trinamool Congress to protest the 'forcible' acquisition of agricultural land for the Tata Motors car project.
A senior activist of the opposition-led Krishi Jomi Raksha (Save Farmland) Committee also conceded that Bag had a very small plot, which had not been affected by the project.
The officials visited the state electricity board and the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority to discuss issues like power and water supplies needed for the plant, Industry and Commerce Secretary Sabyasachi Sen told PTI.
Three TMC leaders Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu and Rathin Ghosh were sworn-in virtually. Mitra is unwell and both Basu and Ghosh are recuperating from COVID-19.
Though the BJP is running too close for comfort, populist schemes and support among Muslims may help Mamata Banerjee overcome the challenge, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Mistry was in the state on his first visit as the head of the conglomerate
Once a reviled practice in the state, both the parties seem to have endorsed a record number of turncoats this time -- triggering a wave of discontentment among their loyalists.
The managing directors -- Rana Sinha of Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company, Dibyendu Bose of TM International Logistics Limited, Sandipan Chakravortty of Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Limited, Viresh Oberoi of mjunction, and Sanjiv Paul of Tata Metaliks -- met at Nabanna, the makeshift state secretariat. Finance and industry minister, Amit Mitra, was also present.
The group's major investments in Bengal are from Tata Metaliks, Tata Consultancy Services, Indian Hotels and Tata Hitachi.
Ironically, the BJP, which seeks to unseat the TMC from power, has taken a leaf out of Mamata Banerjee's strategy of soliciting tinsel town's support towards causes and fielding actors in elections.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's emphasis on a rigid land policy has pleased the farming community but not the industry.
Sen said that as per the lease agreement, concluded recently with the company, it would have to pay a lease rent of Rs 1 crore per year for the first five years to the state.
The Censor Board has refused to clear a Bengali film for taking potshots at the swearing-in ceremony of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Singur movement that forced the Tatas to exit the state.
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