NDA to hold emergency meet on Singur tomorrow

Kolkata, Dec 26: Throwing weight behind the fasting Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to decide its course of action on the Singur issue.

''The BJP has already decided to stand by Mamata in her struggle against setting up of Tata Motors' small car factory on Singur's fertile land. Now the NDA will meet to make official its stand on the issue and decide its course of action,'' BJP president Rajnath Singh said from the dharna manch of Ms Banerjee whose hunger strike entered the 23rd day.

The meeting, to be held at noon at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Delhi, would have the Singur issue as its exclusive agenda, Mr Singh said.

The BJP president said that before going for the NDA meeting, he had talked to Mr Vajpayee and former party president Lal Krishna Advani on details of the subject.

Mr Singh, who was present at the Trinamool leader's dharna manch on the first day of her hunger strike, today held talks with Ms Banerjee and remained with her for a long time.

In reply to a question as to whether the BJP leadership would take up the issue with the Tatas, Mr Singh shot back : ''There is no need to talk to them. The ball is now in the West Bengal Government's court. If anything happens to Mamata, the only person to be held responsible will be Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.'' While Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi stated to have supported the cause of taking over agricultural land for industry, the BJP president clarified that the party was not against industrialisation. ''But in West Bengal, Mr Bhattacharjee should have taken the consent of farmers, which he did not.'' ''Though the state government is claiming that it had obtained consent of most of the land owners, a spate of affidavits filed in the court tell otherwise. Ek neta jhut bol sakta hai lekin pasino se kamanewala jhut nahi bol sakta,'' he said.

Mr Singh said the BJP National Council had already decided that no fertile land should be acquired without the consent of owners for setting up of Special Economic Zones and other industries. He claimed that most of the NDA allies were also supporting Ms Banerjee.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leaders said the condition of Ms Banerjee was deteriorating with a falling pulse rate and breathing problem.

She was examined by Dr Nirmal Majhi, a party leader, as Ms Banerjee had twice refused medical help from Government doctors.

UNI