Singur today stands as a symbol of lost opportunities and shattered hope. This is the region from where Tata Motors was forced to abandon their prestigious Nano project in the face violent agitation by the Trinamool Congress led by Ms Mamata Banerjee and relocate to Gujarat. It was from here that the industrial resurgence of Bengal was promised, and growth and progress of the State predicted; and it is from here that Ms Banerjee staged her remarkable political turnaround.

Today, as Singur in Hooghly district goes to the polls in the fourth phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the desolate factory site, the impoverished villages surrounding it, and the bitterness in the eyes of the villagers, tell a tale not of political victory, but a betrayal of faith and a loss of trust. Of the 12,000 farmers who were affected by the project, around 2,200 were reluctant to part with their lands (of around 400 acres) and refused to collect their compensation cheques.

Led by Ms Mamata Banerjee, these farmers persisted in their demand for the return of their land, finally culminating in the siege of Singur from August 24 to September 8, 2008, that led to the Tatas shifting base, after having invested Rs 1,500 crore into it.

Though this was a major victory for Ms Banerjee who claimed for herself the mantle of the saviour of the poor farmers, for those reluctant land losers who had put their faith in her, it spelt doom. They had neither their land, nor the compensation for it. All they had was a promise from Ms Banerjee that the land would be returned to them.

Now, after more than two years since Tata Motors' departure from Singur, their belief in Didi's (as Ms Banerjee is affectionately known among her followers) promise seems to be wearing thin. “The winds of change are not blowing as strong as before out here. The anger of the people, which was for so long directed at the CPI(M), is now slowly turning toward the Trinamool,” said Kunal Malik (name changed) of Gopalnagar village, whose residents played a very strong role during the agitation in Singur.

Right next to Gopalnagar is Beraberi village, most famous for being the residence of Tapasi Malik, the 18-year-old girl who was killed allegedly by CPI(M) workers for her involvement in the anti-land acquisition agitation in Singur. Most of the residents of this village were the “reluctant farmers”. There is a bitterness in their taciturnity, evident in their churlish response to any kind of enquiry or question. Sometimes their sullen silence is broken by harsh words directed not so much at the one asking the question as to their own desperate situation.

“What have you come here for? To see the fun? To see how we are doing?” an old woman snapped back upon being asked a question.

Of the 16 Gram Panchayats in and around Singur, only one is controlled by the CPI(M). Since the Singur agitation, the region has become a Trinamool stronghold. “Some of the people in the region may have some grievances against Trinamool, but in spite of that, they will certainly not want the CPI(M) to once again be powerful here. Let Didi come to power, then the 400 acres will be returned to the unfortunate farmers,” said Manoranjan Malik, Tapasi Malik's father and a local Trinamool leader.

However, so far there has been no constructive suggestion from the Trinamool leadership as to how the 400 acres can be returned to the farmers. As per Supreme Court rulings, land, once acquired through the Land Acquisition Act, after possession is taken on payment of compensation, vests with the government, free from all encumbrances.

It has been made quite clear that the surplus land not required for the “public purpose” for which it was acquired, cannot be returned to the erstwhile owners, but may be used only for another public purpose or resold in a public auction and the proceeds used for another public purpose.

In January, 2008, the Calcutta High Court made it clear in a judgment that the acquisition of land in Singur was “made for the public purpose of employment generation and socio-economic development of the region.”

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