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– Kamal Narang

The Tata Group Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata, at the 48th Annual Convention of SIAM in the Capital on Thursday.

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Sept. 4 The West Bengal Government will hold discussions with the Trinamool Congress in a meeting that has been convened on Friday by the Governor, Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi, as part of his endeavour to find a solution to the vexed issue of land acquisition in Singur for the Tatas’ small car project.

Work at the project site has come to a halt since August 29, days after Trinamool Congress Leader Ms Mamata Banerjee launched an indefinite agitation near the project site demanding the return of 400 acres acquired from “unwilling farmers”.

Tata Motors on Tuesday said it was suspending work at the plant site and was also looking for other locations to produce the Nano from.

West Bengal’s Industries Minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, will lead the Government delegation while Mr Partha Chatterjee, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, will lead the Trinamool Congress team.

Today, representatives of the State Government and the Trinamool Congress met the Governor in preparation for Friday’s meeting. The Chairman of the State Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Industries & Commerce, Mr Sudip Bandyopadhyay, too met the Governor. Later in the evening, the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, held a meeting with the Governor as well. Mr Ratan Tata, it is learnt, has written a letter to the Governor on Thursday on the Singur issue.

The State Government and the Trinamool Congress have both expressed the hope that Friday’s meeting will pave the way for an end to the Singur land acquisition imbroglio. “The Governor is looking forward to a meaningful dialogue tomorrow,” a statement from Raj Bhavan said.

It is understood that a higher compensation package for the land losers would form an integral part of Friday’s discussions.

On Wednesday, the Governor’s Secretariat had issued a statement saying that “in response to requests from Smt Mamata Banerjee, MP and Chairperson of the Trinamool Congress, on the one hand, and from the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal on the other, the Governor has agreed to chair discussions between a panel from the state government and one representing Smt Mamata Banerjee.”

“The Governor has accepted the requests to do so consistently with his view that the stalemate over Singur is exacting social costs of a high magnitude, apart from the investment costs and the implications on the polity”.

Raj Bhavan has clarified that the Governor’s role “will not be that of a third party mediator but that of the meeting’s Chairperson”. It added that the Governor “sincerely hopes that the discussions will be marked by a spirit of accommodation and goodwill. He envisages this exercise as one that will result in a sense of shared, not one sided, achievement”.

Mr Chittatosh Mukherjee, Former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and former Acting Governor of Maharashtra, will advise the Governor on legal aspects during the course of the discussions.

From next month the Rs 1 lakh car, the Tata Nano will be burning the rubber.

According to the Chairman of Tata Motors, Mr Ratan Tata, the company is doing everything possible to launch Nano as scheduled, during October. However, it was not clear whether the first batch of vehicles would roll out from Singur or other locations that the company had as Plan B. To a question whether customers could buy the small car next month, Mr Tata said, “the question needs to be asked not to me but others.”

More Stories on : New Projects | Politics | Tata Motors Ltd | Cars | West Bengal

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