Singur deadlock: Bengal Govt, Trinamool hold talks

In the first talks aimed at breaking the Singur deadlock, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee along with Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen on Wednesday met Trinamool Congress (TMC) representative Partha Chatterjee at the Writers’ Building. Party chief Mamata Banerjee had deputed the TMC MLA to talk to the Government in response to the CM’s request for a dialogue to end the deadlock over Singur.

After the meeting, Mamata told reporters at her residence that discussions would continue although Wednesday’s meeting had not yielded immediate fruit. “The meeting was negative. It was an eyewash. No good intention was expressed. It depends on their strategy. They are not willing to deliver the goods,” she said.

She said her party was ready to hold talks with the Government if the state takes a ‘policy decision’ on the return of 400 acres of land to farmers. She said the TMC-backed Save Farmland Committee had taken a policy decision to let the small car plant come up on the remaining 600 acres if 400 acres of acquired land was returned to the farmers.