The verbal spat between Trinamool Congress leader Amit Mitra and the Chairman Emeritus of the Tata group, Ratan Tata is all over media. Ratan Tata said that the Mamata Banerjee government has not been able to attract industries even after coming to power. He also blamed the agitation of Singur against the Tata plant led by now chief minister Mamata Banerjee about the failure of Tata Nano.
Amit Mitra, the finance minister of Bengal slammed back by saying that Tata must have "lost his mind" to be speaking like that. He mentioned a list of investments that the Tatas are making in West Bengal and he spoke of expansion of TCS and Tata Metallics in the state. He spoke of other industrial houses like the ANil Ambani Reliance group and Emami who are finaliisng investment plans in the state. Mitra in a scathing attack said that, either the chirman emeritus of the group was not updated about his company's whereabouts or he was being delusional.
But what seems amusing is the complete u-turn of Amit Mitra on Ratan Tata and the prospects of the Singur project for the state.
Mitra was the secretary general of FICCI when Banerjee was fighting hard so that the Tata car factory could not occupy the entire land that had been allotted to them by the CPIM government. For the uninitiated, FICCI i.e; Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is an apex business organisation that represents the interests of corporate India. Mitra, being their face, had said in September 2008, "If the Tatas go away, it will be a tremendous setback for the morale of not just domestic but even foreign investors," warns Amit Mitra, secretary general, FICCI. That’s a market reality the CPI(M) government will not be able to ignore."
In its earlier avatar, Mitra has essentially belonged to the same group that Tata belongs to: the corporate India. They must have met several times, including when he was part of the conference in Yale where Ratan Tata was conferred the Legend in Leadership award in 2010.
But much has changed for Mitra since then. He is now a full time politician. Not only has his dress sense changed, but seems like his ideals and virtues have undergone a radical transformation. Mitra got a promotion few months back, when he got the industry portfolio. He is now both the finance and industry minister of Mamata Banerjee government. Banerjee known for her mercurial temper has no time for dissent as Dinesh Trivedi can well testify. Mitra is now the suave face of the state government who has to sing paeans for the "glorious" regime of the party.
Also read: Ratan Tata hits back at Amit Mitra's 'delusion' remark
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