- Hope on lips, but deal stuck on location
Calcutta, Sept. 5: They came, they neither agreed nor disagreed and they will meet again tomorrow.
The Bengal government and the Trinamul Congress kicked off the Singur negotiations six hours later than scheduled on Friday and will reconvene tomorrow at Raj Bhavan for what is being dubbed the “match” after the “warm-up”.
All sides exuded optimism in public and several packages have been floated. But the big picture: a breakthrough is possible only if Trinamul agrees to accept a package involving land “outside” the project or the Tatas drop opposition to setting aside some portion from the plant site.
The Tatas and the government have so far given no indication that the project area (645 acres for the mother plant and 290 acres for the vendor park) can be touched. That leaves 62 acres, of which 47 are with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation.
The 47 acres are contiguous with the 935 acres but are not part of the project that has been defined by the Tatas as the mother plant and the vendor park.
If Trinamul is willing to accept this land, the government is open to discussions on improving the package for landlosers — both willing and unwilling but with no other source of livelihood. The possibility of finding more land elsewhere was also mooted by the government.
Since the 47 acres — some put the figure at 38 — are contiguous with the project land, the location might offer Trinamul the chance to claim that part of its key demand has been met.
After three-and-a-half hours of talks that sometimes turned acrimonious and required the governor’s intervention to be put back on track from the brink of a walkout, Trinamul was seeing hope in the government’s acknowledgement that 47 acres could be spared.
A senior CPM minister said the high point of today’s talks was that for the first time in many months, the government could explain to the Opposition what prevented it from returning land and what it intended to do for the benefit of the landlosers. “What is important is (Trinamul’s) attitude is changing,” he said. “Till the other day, you would not be able to utter the word ‘land’ within their earshot.”
The two sides will try to expand on the theme on Saturday, although the Tatas and the government have ruled out handing back land from the project area.
Trinamul is viewing the 47 acres as part of the project. The leftover acres are actually the creation of the zigzag nature of the Singur land. The jagged-edge plots add up to 47 acres which, in other circumstances, would have been used for environment-friendly projects. The remaining 15 acres are meant for a power plant.
The Opposition party, which has lowered its initial 400-acre estimate, is expected to push the government tomorrow for increasing the 47-acre parcel. Trinamul is expected to tell the government that the deadlock could be broken if efforts are made to expand the quantum of land.
“At this point, the government can write to our leader assuring her of its intention to discuss the issue of return of land,” Trinamul team leader Partha Chatterjee said. “Alongside, it can try to convince the Tatas that they must play a role in this respect.”
Another source said: “Mamata is believed to have signalled that she would call off her agitation if her demand is accommodated even in a limited way inside the complex.” Governor Gandhi might renew an appeal to the Tatas to consider releasing some land.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 10am, was postponed till 4pm to ensure Durgapur Expressway was cleared of traffic hindrances.
Gandhi said he was “assured that both flanks would be open”. Mamata eventually allowed only one flank to be opened — a fact the governor overlooked in the afternoon.Gandhi said the meeting was postponed at the government’s request but the chief minister said it was solely the governor’s decision. (INDRANIL GHOSH AND OUR BUREAU/ The Telegraph)
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