Mamata for mass sit-in as CM makes fresh appeal

Kolkata, Dec 12: Asserting that she would continue her indefinite fasting, Ms Mamata Banerjee called for a 96-hour mass sit-in here from December 15, while Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee made a fresh appeal to the Trinamool leader to call off hunger strike and start negotiations on Singur issue.

"I call upon every individual and organisation, who are opposed to acquisition of farm land at Singur, to participate in a mass sit-in here. If necessary, the sit-in would continue for 96 hours," she said while addressing a crowd that participated in a mass assembly programme at the venue of her hunger strike that entered the eighth day today.

"I can afford to starve for months...but police have beaten up farmer women at Singur and they have humiliated me also...I will see to the end of it," she said little after the Chief Minister made the appeal.

This was for the fourth time, including once in writing, that the Chief Minister requested her to end the hunger strike.

"I would like to once again appeal to her to end fasting and sit for discussion with the government on issues relating to Singur project," the Chief Minister said.

"I requested her to sit for discussion. If she was not ready to meet me personally she could have sent one of her party representatives. But we have not received any response so far," he told reporters.

Besides Mr Bhattacharjee, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Left Front Chairman Biman Basu had also made similar appeals to Ms Banerjee.

With Trinamool leader remaining adamant that the Government stop acquiring land before any talks, the state health department had asked the SSKM Hospital to keep at hand an emergency team following her deteriorating health.

SSKM Superintendent Ashoke Ghosh told sources, "After receiving instructions from the state government, the hospital authorities have arranged two rooms (20 and 21) at the Woodburn ward of the hospital for her. " A team of doctors of SSKM hospital had gone to examine the health of the fasting leader late last night, but Ms Banerjee refused any medical assistance.

But at the instance of the Health Minister, the SSKM authorities had formed a team comprising teaching doctors of cardiothoracic, cardiology and medicine departments to look after Ms.Banerjee in case of any emergency. An anesthesist and an ECG technician are also a part of the team.

Close to the venue of the hunger strike, Left Front Chairman and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Biman Basu said the Trinamool supremo was behaving like an "adamant child".

Addressing an SFI rally, Mr Basu said Ms Banerjee had never made clear her views on development and she had always been making 'unreasonable statements like an adamant child'.

With both Ms Mamata Banerjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee refusing to budge from respective stands on the Singur issue, everyone was left guessing as to what would be the sequel to the drama.

The stand-off, set to be heading for nowhere, gave rise to speculations over the possibilities of the ultimate end - would she be forcibly lifted and fed or would she call it off at the request of top NDA leaders, like Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

But while there had been no such request till now from the BJP Headquarters in Delhi, a drastic step by the Government was also not being viewed as an immediate likelihood considering the political risk involved in it.

UNI