Govt should talk to owners directly before acquiring land : BJP

Kolkata, Aug 5 (UNI) West Bengal BJP president Satyabrata Mukherjee today felt that the situation at Singur could not have come to such a pass, had the Tatas and the state government talked to the unwilling land owners directly before acquiring land.

'' The BJP and the Trinamool Congress both want industrialisation in the state, but the government is yet to make public the actual rate of Singur land, given to the Tata Motors for setting up small car project, and the amount paid to the landowners, '' Mr Mukherjee told newspersons here.

He said it would be "unfortunate" if Tata left the project in West Bengal, but the state government should be more cautious before acquiring land.

The Singur impasse could not have been solved, had the Tata and state government discussed directly with the farmers before taking their land for industrialisation, he opined.

He said the BJP had planned a nationwide movement programme from August 11 to 13 to protest the revokation of land allocated to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board(SASB) in the Kashmir valley.

To a query about the alliance with the Trinamool Congress, he said, '' We will think of it before the announcement of the Lok Sabha election. '' UNI AKM SJC DB1947