Mamata once again turns down Governor's appeal to end fast

Kolkata, Dec 23 (UNI) Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee once again rejected an appeal by West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi to withdraw her indefinite hunger strike, sticking to the demand that the acquired land of Singur farmers be given back.

In his second letter to Ms Banerjee in a week, the Governor urged her to withdraw her 20-day-long fasting which she began protesting acquisition of agricultural land at Singur for Tata Motors' small car project.

His fresh appeal came shortly after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here on a two-day visit to the state.

Yesterday the Governor himself called on Ms Banerjee at her dharna manch and requested her to call off the hunger strike.

He also made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Trinamool leader about the state Government's rehabilitation package for the displaced farmers.

This was the third time and twice in writing that Mr Gandhi made the request to the Trinamool leader.

Earlier, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had also written twice to Ms Banerjee with a similar appeal, which however, fell flat.

Yesterday, the Trinamool Congress had handed over a set of affidavits, filed by a section of Singur villagers, owning 387 acre of land, who had reprtedly alleged that their plots had been forcibly acquired.

In his today's letter, Mr Gandhi informed Ms Banerjee that he had handed over those documents to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen for ascertaining the facts.

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