Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi accused West Bengal government of 'surrendering' to the Tatas on the Sinur issue and asked the company not to be obstinate.
KOLKATA: Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi on Monday accused West Bengal government of 'surrendering' to the Tatas on the Sinur issue and asked the company not to be obstinate on the issue of returning some land from the project area to "unwilling" farmers.
"The Tatas are not supreme. The Left Front government is surrrendering its authority to the Tatas," Dasmunshi, who is the state Congress chief, said.
He said his party envisaged that there should be no difficulty if some ancilliary units of Tata Motors were shifted out of Singur.
"Tatas should see that some quantum of land from within the 1000 acre project area is returned to 'unwilling' farmers. Tatas should not be obstinate in this regard", the Information and Broadcasting Minister said.
Dasmunshi did not specify the quantum of land he wanted to be returned to 'unwilling' farmers. The state government has ruled out giving more than 70 acres of land even though Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee wanted 300 acres to be given back from within the project area.
"We cannot tell you the quantum of land Tatas should agree to return to the farmers from within the project area.
"Tatas will have to set up the industry and should shed their ego. Let it say the quantum it can agree to return from within the project area," he said.
He said "Tata should understand that an industry can flourish with the co-operation of society."
Dasmunshi criticised the Tatas for frequently threatening to leave Singur.
The Union Minister, who led a party delegation to governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, said he requested him to again take another initiative to end the Singur stalemate.
"I urged the governor to take another initiative to resolve the crisis in Singur so that both the industry and agriculture stay," he said.
He said that the Chief Minister's secretariat had informed him that an all-party meeting would be held on Tuesday to discuss the Singur issue. "Our party will join the meeting and place our views."
He said that it would have been better if such an all-party meet had called before the acquisition of land for setting up the small car project.
Holding the state government responsible for the crisis in Singur, Dasmunshi who on Sunday was critical of the manner in which the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee was carrying on her movement, slammed the state government for announcing a rehabilitation package "unilaterally".
His comment came a day before the TC chief is scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday.
On Sunday, while addressing a rally at Singur Dasmunshi questioned how Industries Minister Nirupam Sen could sign a deal that said maximum land would be provided from inside the project area. "If maximum land is given from the project area, ancillary units cannot come up," he had said.
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