Nandigram not to be on industrial map : Bhattacharjee

Kolkata, Mar 11 (UNI) Nandigram will be left out of the industrial road map if agitation continues against the proposed chemical hub, but the process of development will roll on elsewhere in West Bengal despite the opposition's furore, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said.

''The present situation in Nandigram can not be allowed to last long. We shall not set up the chemical hub there if the local people do not want it. But industrialisation is the future for thousands of youth in the state, and we are determined to go for it,'' he said while addressing a rally, organised by the Bharatiya Krisak Sabha, the peasants' wing of the CPI(M).

While daring the Trinamool-led opposition to ''do whatever they can'', the Chief Minister said his government was committed to the people for the state's overall development and would not budge from its stand under any pressure.

Reiterating that doors were still open for the opposition to hold talks with the government on its industrialisation plan, Mr Bhattacharjee said he was prepared to listen to ''anything logical'', but would not tolerate the kind of opposition being put up in Nandigram.

Held at the Brigade Parade Ground two days after the government signed a land lease agreement with Tata Motors for the small car factory in Singur, the rally was organised to express the solidarity of farmers with the Front government's industrialisation move.

Krishak Sabha's state president Benoy Konar, Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah and Panchyat Minister Surjyakanta Mishra were among others who addressed the massive rally vowing to walk the path of industrialisation.

MORE UNI