CPI(M) leader and party MP in Rajya Sabha Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said the chief minister is “accustomed to telling lies”.
CPI(M) leader and party MP in Rajya Sabha Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said the chief minister is “accustomed to telling lies”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she did not expel Tatas from the state, but the CPI(M) did. His remarks related to the agitation against forced land acquisition for Tata Motors’ small car project in Singur in the state drew strong reactions from the opposition, especially the CPI(M) leadership, which called the chief minister’s remarks a “lie”.
“I did not take Tata out of West Bengal. CPI(M) did it. They wanted to forcibly occupy the land, we have returned the land [to the people]Ms Banerjee said while attending an event in Siliguri, north Bengal. The Chief Minister further said that there is no dearth of land in the state and his government has not forcibly encroached upon the land for any industrial project.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front government has begun acquisitions for Tata’s small car project in Singur in 2006. Tata decided to shift the project from Singur in October 2008 and blamed the movement of Trinamool Congress (TMC). Led by Ms. Banerjee as one of the reasons for moving the project out of the state. It was the agitation against land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram that propelled Ms Banerjee to power in the state in 2011. One of the first decisions of the TMC government in 2011 was to return the land to reluctant farmers in Singur.
The remarks come at a time when the TMC government is making every effort to attract investments in the state and ditching its ‘anti-industry’ image. CPI(M) leader and party MP in Rajya Sabha Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said the chief minister was “accustomed to lying”.
“Has she ever said anything based on facts? Today she is feeling the pressure of the people. Were people not seeing her alleged agitation, her alleged promise to return the land. The West Bengal government under her leadership moved the Supreme Court They did not want Tatas in the state,” Mr Bhattacharya said.
The BJP and Congress leadership also criticized Ms Banerjee, saying she was responsible for the Tatas withdrawing the coveted car project from the state.
In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that land acquisition by the Left Front government in Singur for the car project was faulty and not for a public purpose. The court had directed that unwilling farmers be given physical possession of the land. About 997 acres were acquired for the project and the court directed 298 farmers to return 103 acres of land. Farming activities on the land resumed in 2016, although some farmers still complain that the nature of the land has changed and is not suitable for cultivation.