KOLKATA: This was one political thriller that could beat any India-Pakistan one-dayer hands down. Earlier in the day, when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee went out to bat with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as the umpire, Bengal kept its fingers crossed. As the day progressed, hopes of a breakthrough brightened. But, just as the state was about to uncork the bubbly in the evening, came the twist. Mamata Banerjee had placed a new set of conditions before the government. She would call off her agitation only if construction work was stopped by the Nano plant's ancillary units. The talks then went down to the wire. Late into the night, the chief minister finally bought peace by agreeing to set up a committee that would ascertain within a week the scope of providing land to the unwilling farmers, both within and outside the Nano project area. Till then, all the 23 vendors setting up shop within the vendors' park were urged to stop construction work. Shortly before midnight, Mamata Banerjee suspended her agitation, paving the way for resumption of work at the Tata Motors factory. She termed the deal a "total victory". The chief minister, on his part, touted it as a victory for "industrialisation and development". As per the agreement, the government will form a committee — under Trinamool MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya — that will ascertain the scope of providing land, in and outside the Singur project area, for the 2,251 landlosers who have not taken compensation as yet. The maximum land will be inside the project area. The press statement from Raj Bhavan, however, has left some grey areas that need to be addressed in the days to come. For instance, it is not clear whether the government would return land to the unwilling farmers or work out a land-based rehabilitation package that industries minister Nirupam Sen had been selling all along. The Krishi Jami Raksha Committee has been pressing for the return of 300 acres of land, of which 200 acres is within the project area. As of now, return of acquired land is not tenable under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The statement is also silent on this. Instead, the government has left it to the committee to examine the scope and also scout for 100 acres of land outside the project area. The WBIDC will buy this land for unwilling farmers once the committee identifies the land in the vicinity. With the government coming to terms with the Opposition proposal that maximum land has to be identified within the acquired 997.11 acres, landlosers are likely to get much above the 47.11 acres of WBIDC land, where they might set up commercial stalls as part of the rehabilitation package. Bhattacharjee, it seems, stooped to this level despite his colleague Nirupam Sen's inflexible stand in consultation with the Tatas. Mamata's spanner on the upcoming constructions in the vendors' park came at the last moment because she feared the government committee wouldn't act without the rider. The Governor's scheduled presser was postponed. The CM, who had gone back to Alimuddin Street to apprise the Left Front partners, got a phone call from the Governor that Mamata had raised a fresh point after the chief minister left Raj Bhavan. Gandhi and his legal adviser, former Chief Justice Chittatosh Mukherji, tried to dissuade Mamata from raising fresh issues, but the Trinamool chairperson wouldn’t budge. Failing to persuade Mamata, the Governor left Raj Bhavan to meet a Chinese delegation, only to get back to the talks table within an hour at 9 pm. The CM, too, rushed back to Raj Bhavan, accompanied by Sen and rural development minister Surjya Kanta Mishra. Mamata and her colleagues, Partha Chattopadhyay, Kalyan Banerjee and Samir Putantunda, were still camping at Raj Bhavan. When the deal was finally done late in the night, Mamata was convinced that she had been able to extract the maximum. The Governor, with both Mamata and Buddhadeb by his side, announced at 10.30 pm(local time) that a committee would finalize the modalities of land to be handed over to the unwilling farmers within a week. Singur erupted in joy. (END) Source: Times of India
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