- Mamata ultimatum greets CM’s warning of pullout
BY INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta, Sept. 21: The Tatas have formally notified the government that they would shortly begin looking at the option of withdrawal from Singur if a clear signal on the possibility of peace did not emerge in the next few days.
However, Mamata Banerjee this evening served a seven-day ultimatum to the government to implement an agreement that she said promised “maximum” land within the project site to landlosers.
She also threatened to resume her “satyagraha” — a euphemism for the siege that is suspended now — but not during “festival time”. Mamata, who kept the talks door open and left room for manoeuvre by announcing a staggered plan of action if her ultimatum was ignored, did not specify whether her season of goodwill would extend till Christmas.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, too, indirectly signalled that the Tatas were considering a pullout. “The project will be out of Bengal if it is delayed further,” Bhattacharjee said in what looked like a last-ditch public appeal to the Opposition to accept the package offered by the government and withdraw the agitation.
“Please make it possible for Tata Motors and its component producers to resume work without further delay,” the chief minister said.
Senior officials said Tata Motors had informed the government a few days ago that it would be forced to decide on a pullout if there was no immediate cessation of political bickering caused by Mamata’s opposition. “Instead of considering resuming the residual construction of the factory, the Tatas have said, they will soon start looking at the withdrawal option if things do not improve in the next few days,” an official told The Telegraph.
The chief minister is understood to have briefed the CPM leadership. “He told us that the Tatas have notified the government they would quit soon if the situation does not improve,” a CPM central committee member said.
No official response was available from Tata Motors. But Tata Motors sources said the company was yet to see any sign of normality returning to Singur. “On severe test is the Tatas’ long-term faith in Bengal as an investment destination. Street-side politics is stopping Bengal from passing the test,” an executive said.
“What the Tatas will do is their matter, we are no way connected with it,” Mamata said in response to a question at a news conference.
Having failed so far to turn Mamata around, the Bhattacharjee government was considering a proposal to provide intense security to enable Tata Motors to resume operations.
But, according to a senior minister, the Tatas have declined to return to Singur under such cover. “They have indicated to us that they look forward to resume working in a congenial environment. That sort of a solution (tight security) is of no relevance. You can say we are ready (to do our bit), but the Tatas are not,” the minister said.
However, sections of the government, the CPM and the Trinamul Congress still harbour the hope that attempts to rescue the project might pay off in view of what they perceive as subtle shifts in Mamata’s stand.
Under pressure from the ground to accept the compensation package that guarantees jobs, Mamata is believed to be pinning hopes on another round of talks with the government. Mediators on either side confirmed that feelers were going back and forth.
“We are still hoping for a last-minute breakthrough,” said a negotiator on the government side.
But he added that if and when another meeting took place, it would have to be held within the framework of the compensation package. The chief minister has also conveyed this to the governor.
WITH INPUTS FROM BISWAJIT ROY AND BARUN GHOSH
BY INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta, Sept. 21: The Tatas have formally notified the government that they would shortly begin looking at the option of withdrawal from Singur if a clear signal on the possibility of peace did not emerge in the next few days.
However, Mamata Banerjee this evening served a seven-day ultimatum to the government to implement an agreement that she said promised “maximum” land within the project site to landlosers.
She also threatened to resume her “satyagraha” — a euphemism for the siege that is suspended now — but not during “festival time”. Mamata, who kept the talks door open and left room for manoeuvre by announcing a staggered plan of action if her ultimatum was ignored, did not specify whether her season of goodwill would extend till Christmas.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, too, indirectly signalled that the Tatas were considering a pullout. “The project will be out of Bengal if it is delayed further,” Bhattacharjee said in what looked like a last-ditch public appeal to the Opposition to accept the package offered by the government and withdraw the agitation.
“Please make it possible for Tata Motors and its component producers to resume work without further delay,” the chief minister said.
Senior officials said Tata Motors had informed the government a few days ago that it would be forced to decide on a pullout if there was no immediate cessation of political bickering caused by Mamata’s opposition. “Instead of considering resuming the residual construction of the factory, the Tatas have said, they will soon start looking at the withdrawal option if things do not improve in the next few days,” an official told The Telegraph.
The chief minister is understood to have briefed the CPM leadership. “He told us that the Tatas have notified the government they would quit soon if the situation does not improve,” a CPM central committee member said.
No official response was available from Tata Motors. But Tata Motors sources said the company was yet to see any sign of normality returning to Singur. “On severe test is the Tatas’ long-term faith in Bengal as an investment destination. Street-side politics is stopping Bengal from passing the test,” an executive said.
“What the Tatas will do is their matter, we are no way connected with it,” Mamata said in response to a question at a news conference.
Having failed so far to turn Mamata around, the Bhattacharjee government was considering a proposal to provide intense security to enable Tata Motors to resume operations.
But, according to a senior minister, the Tatas have declined to return to Singur under such cover. “They have indicated to us that they look forward to resume working in a congenial environment. That sort of a solution (tight security) is of no relevance. You can say we are ready (to do our bit), but the Tatas are not,” the minister said.
However, sections of the government, the CPM and the Trinamul Congress still harbour the hope that attempts to rescue the project might pay off in view of what they perceive as subtle shifts in Mamata’s stand.
Under pressure from the ground to accept the compensation package that guarantees jobs, Mamata is believed to be pinning hopes on another round of talks with the government. Mediators on either side confirmed that feelers were going back and forth.
“We are still hoping for a last-minute breakthrough,” said a negotiator on the government side.
But he added that if and when another meeting took place, it would have to be held within the framework of the compensation package. The chief minister has also conveyed this to the governor.
WITH INPUTS FROM BISWAJIT ROY AND BARUN GHOSH
Source: The Telegraph
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন