Mamata turns down VP's request to break fast

Kolkata, Dec 15 (UNI) Turning down former Prime Minister V P Singh's request to withdraw indefinite her hunger strike, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee today firmed up her stand saying she would carry on with her fast.

Mr Singh, who had an hour-long chat with the fasting leader, said, he had urged Ms Banerjee to break her fast, but she did not agree.'' Everybody has a right for movement and I cannot force anybody to call it off. I would convey to the state government whatever she has told me,'' he added.

''With full conviction I can say that I am on the right track and I possess all the documents to prove myself regarding forcible eviction, atrocities by police and torture on women,'' Mr Singh cited Ms Bannerjee as saying.

Noting that several jute mills and cold storage units at Singur are based on agriculture and grabbing of farm land there was tantamount to closing down those units,'' she categorically stated that there was no point in budging an inch from her stand following requests for sitting across the table by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Left Front Chairman Biman Basu and veteran Polit Bureau member Jyoti Basu as her very purpose of going on an indefinite strike to protest the acquisition of agricultural land at Singur would be lost.

Earlier, Mr Singh met Mr Bhattacharjee to take stock of the facts on Singur and find a solution to the impasse.

''Our talks were positive. We not only discussed Singur but also matters of larger perspectives concerning the whole country,' Mr Singh told reporters after an hour-long meeting with the Chief Minister at the Writers' Buildings.

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