By INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta Sept. 18: The state government today said it was ready to talk to Mamata Banerjee again on the Singur stand-off but only if she promised not to press for 300 acres within the project site.
The offer came on a day governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who last week brokered the first meeting between the Trinamul boss and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, cancelled a meeting with leaders of the Opposition party.
The government’s talks overture came during back-channel negotiations between CPM leaders and ministers and key Trinamul functionaries. “It seems even at this stage they (Trinamul) want talks (with us) for, let us say, clarification of certain aspects of the compensation package announced last Friday,” a senior CPM leader said.
“We said we don’t mind, but the meeting should be substantial, not a tea session.”
The CPM negotiators told the Trinamul functionaries Mamata would have to realise that the government had offered her the best deal possible. Now it was up to her to respond in a positive manner by endorsing the compensation package the government had announced for farmers whose lands were taken over for the Nano small car project.
The behind-the-scenes talks coincided with three developments.
Seventeen Trinamul-controlled farmers, who two years ago had refused to accept compensation, registered with the Hooghly district administration for the new package, taking the number overnight to 22. “Several farmers have taken the cheques,” a district official said.
Sources familiar with developments in Singur said a large number of farmers loyal to Mamata were expected to register with the authorities for compensation cheques under the new package.
The second development was the governor’s decision to cancel the 7.30pm meeting at Raj Bhavan with Partha Chatterjee and other Trinamul leaders. Trinamul had requested the meeting to review the situation in Singur.
The decision to call off the meeting came a day after the chief minister said the governor wouldn’t be requested to again mediate in the Singur impasse and Mamata should deal directly with the government.
Mamata had bristled at Bhattacharjee’s comments and said the chief minister had “defamed” the governor.
Trinamul sources, however, said they expected Mamata to call on the governor tomorrow as scheduled, though no confirmation was available from Raj Bhavan.
The third was reports that Tata Motors had begun exploring the possibility of setting up an alternative plant for the Nano in either Karnataka or Haryana. The mood at Writers’ Buildings as well as in the CPM headquarters on Alimuddin Street turned grim when the reports came in.
“Mamata’s utterances yesterday did not inspire confidence,” said a CPM minister. “But we are still hoping she would see reason.”
A CPM central committee member said: “We have made it clear to Trinamul leaders they are free to meet the governor as many times as they wish, but they would do well to discuss a possible settlement through direct discussions with the government. They must stop taking refuge in the office of the governor.”
The CPM state secretariat will tomorrow discuss the Singur issue.
Mamata and her aides will review the post-package Singur situation on September 21 and 22. Sources said the party would decide over the two meetings whether to re-launch the suspended siege of the Nano factory in a festival season. (END) Source: The Telegraph
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