POLITICS-LEAD-MAMATA-ASSAULT-BANDH

POLITICS-LEAD-MAMATA-ASSAULT-BANDH Statewide road, rail blockade by Trinamool, communication disrupted Kolkata, Sep 26 (UN) Road and rail transport were disrupted throughout West Bengal today following blockades by Trinamool Congress workers as party supremo Mamata Banerjee sat for an indefinite dharna protesting the police lathi charge during a demonstration against the land acquisition for Tata Motors' small car project at Singur late last night.

Drawing support from the Congress in a long-drawn battle with the Left Front Government on the issue, Ms Banerjee also called for a statewide bandh on October 9 in protest against 'indiscriminate' sell of agricultural land and asked party supporters to observe a protest day tomorrow.

Condemning the police action, in which Ms Banerjee was among the 30 injured, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi visited the dharna site and declared that both the parties would go together in a greater movement against the Government.

Meanwhile, taking up a one-hour programme from eleven am, the Trinamool Congress workers staged road and rail blockades in several areas throwing in disarray surface communication throughout the state. While party leaders blocked the busy intersection at Esplanade in the heart of the city, workers squatted on tracks in different railway stations, including Singur in Hooghly and Bhagabangola in Murshidabad district.

Party activists also put up blockades on Mayo road and Hazra road in the city and National Highway 34 in Ranaghat under Nadia district.

Ms Banerjee, who has been on dharna at the feet of the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road, is being accompanied by Trinamool Congress Legislature party leader Partha Chatterjee and other party heavyweights.

Besides Mr Dasmunshi, Pradesh Congress General Secretary Manas Bhunia and former West Bengal Pradesh Congress President Somen Mitra met her to extend the party's solidarity to her.

In a scathing attack on the State Government, Mr Dasmunshi said the police attack on demonstrators at Singur was 'barbaric and unprecdented'.

''The treatment meted out to Mamata, who was manhandled and grossly humiliated was shameful. Our party has full support to the bandh called by Mamata. We will also be with the the Trinamool Congress in the larger struggle is against the unjust manner the Government is handing over fertile farmland to the Tatas,'' he said.

Mr Dasmunshi declared that he himself would participate in tomorrow's programme for observing a protest day.

He said the way the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government was capturing land from farmers at Singur deserved a resistance for the sake of the state. The Government could have avoided this confrontation had it taken into confidence the opposition parties and discussed with them the policy for allotment of land for industry, he said.

''But the manner in which the Chief Minister and his administration has been trying to execute the whole thing shows that there is something under the carpet which the Government is desperately trying to cover up,'' Mr Dasmunshi said.

As the issue ran into a war zone with Ms Banerjee hell bent on foiling the Tata project at Singur, police held the Trinamool leader and two of her party MLAs late in a dramatic development last night. They were on a dharna at Singur to protest the state government's land acquisition drive for the Tata Motors small car factory. At least 30 people were also injured when police also lathicharged a mob and lobbed tear gas cannisters to forcibly remove them.

The Trinamool demonstration, which viturally turned into a seize to the local block development office, was organised to prevent distribution of compensation cheques to farmers intending to hand over their land to the Government for the small car factory.

Ms Banerjee, who entered the block development office where the BDO, Superintendent of Police and District Magistrate were present, sat on a protest and demanded that the distribution of cheques be stopped immediately. She said she would continue the dharna overnight.

This virtually left District Magistrate Vinod Kumar and other Government officials gheraoed. About 245 farmers, who were inside the office to accept cheques, were also detained as hundreds of Trinamool supporters encircled the building and did not anyone to go out.

Earlier, members of the 'Krishijami Raksha Committee' (Save Farmland Committee), a platform raised by Ms Banerjee, opposed to the aquisition of agricultural land for the project demonstrated before the block development office and were joined by some women with sticks and broomsticks in their hands.

After removing the gherao, police escorted Ms Banerjee to her home in Kolkata around 3 am this morning. But the leader went straight to the Gandhi statue to sit afresh for a dharna.

Police denied reports that Ms Banerjee was arrested.

'' We will not be cowed down. Our agitation will continue,'' Ms Banerjeesaid alleging that police had not only assaulted but also misbehaved with her .

Calling upon the people to foil the bandh on October nine, CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu said Mamata was ''anti-development and out to create a chaos' in the state.

State Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb said the government would continue to make payment to those who gave up their land for the project.

UNI .

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