Crucial talks to resolve Singur tangle begins

Kolkata, Sep 5 (UNI) The crucial conciliatory meeting convened by West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi to unwind the Nano tangle at Singur began at the Raj Bhawan here today.

Both the government side, led by Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, and the Trinamool Congress, led by Opposition leader Partho Chatterjee, took seven-member teams for the talks.

Government representatives included Panchayat Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra, Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb and Commerce and Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen, among others.

The meeting was earlier scheduled to begin at 1000 hours but was deferred till 1600 hours following a request from the government side.

Doing a spadework for the talks, Mr Gandhi had held a series of separate meetings with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mr Nirupam Sen, Dr Surjyakanta Mishra and the Opposition at his residence yesterday.

The Governor had also met noted economist Amlan Dutta and talked to former state Finance Minister Ashok Mitra to elicit their views.

He took along former Bombay High Court Chief Justice Chittotosh Mukherjee as advisor on legal aspects of the whole issue.

The Governor's decision to chair the meeting came following requests from Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee to mediate personally to find a solution to the prolonged deadlock that threatened to derail Tata's Nano car project which was scheduled to roll out the world's cheapest car by the next month.

As political agitation following Ms Banerjee's dharna spiralled almost out of proportion, Tata Motors suspended work at Singur on August 29 and announced its plan to relocate the project outside West Bengal.

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