Governor gives a new twist to Singur Impasse

Kolkata, Sep 25: Even after the Tatas' decided to roll out of Singur, the issue is still in debate in Singur. Now, West Bengal Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi has another version of the story. The Governor who tried to break the deadlock between West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, said, "Land is limited. Land is precious. Land holds a special value to farmers and their families. It's not an impersonal, dematerialised share certificate that you buy and sell with every swing of the Sensex. Therefore, we have to be sensitive to the responses of those who lose land and livelihood to projects for industry, housing and infrastructure, knowing that industry needs space."

The Governor made this statement at a programme organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata on Wednesday, Sep 24.

Stressing that the Governor wants land-based rehabilitation and not the monetary package offer for the Singur farmers, Mamata on Wednesday, Sep 24 called on Gandhi at Raj Bhavan, pressing her demand of invoking Article 355 and paving the way for President's rule in Bengal.

"The ruling CPM government in Bengal has flouted the Raj Bhavan agreement that calls for a land-based package and has announced the monetary package unilaterally. This government has no right to continue in office," Mamata said.

"From what I understood, the Governor is extremely unhappy with the CPM government. CPM is neither for agriculture nor industry. The state's future is at stake. We have asked the Governor to intervene and save the state. We still want a solution to the problem. We wanted Singur to be a model for the entire country where industry and agriculture flourished," she said after the 50-minute meeting with the Governor.

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