Trinamool won't support land acquisition bill, says Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, Apr 24: The Trinamool Congress will not support the Land Acquisition Bill proposed by the Narendra Modi-led central government, party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today.

"We will not support land acquisition bill. We have made our stand clear in Parliament. I sat on a hungerstrike for 26 days against forcible land acquisition," Mamata told reporters.

"It was our movement against forcible land acquisition which had sparked the demand for abolition of the draconian Land Acquisition Act of 1894," said Mamata, whose party

shepherded prolonged land acquisition agitations in Nandigram and Singur.

The TMC supremo said that if anybody expressed willingness to part with his or her land, it could be taken through negotiation.

She also termed as "unfortunate" the death of farmer Gajendra Singh who on Wednesday committed suicide by hanging from a tree at a rally addressed by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.

PTI