Singur row: Second day's talks begin on hopeful note

Kolkata, Sep 6 (UNI) With the hope for ending the Singur impasse slowly emerging, the second round of talks between the West Bengal Government and the Opposition began at the Raj Bhawan this morning.

''Whatever decisions are to be taken will be for everybody. The government will not make any discriminiation,'' state Industry Minister Nirupam Sen said before participating in talks.

Mr Sen was heading a seven-member government team, including Panchayat Minister Surjyakanta Mishra and Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb.

The Opposition side is headed by the Leader of Opposition Partha Chatterjee, a close aide of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and six other representatives of the Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee (KJRC), a platform of 22 outfits.

Led by Ms Banerjee, the KJRC had been continuing an indefinite dharna near the Nano project site at Singur since August 24, demanding that 400 out of the total 997 acre of the plant area be returned to farmers.

However, with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi playing a key role to get both sides reconciled and come to a compromise, yesterday's meeting ended on a high note with ample hints of climb down by both the government and the opposition from the respective stand they were sticking to rigidly.

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