Mamata threatens to resume land fight

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090512/jsp/bengal/story_10951932.jsp

Mamata threatens to resume land fight

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Over, finally: Mamata at her last rally for this election in Kasba on Monday. (Pabitra Das) Calcutta, May 11: Mamata Banerjee threatened to launch a fresh agitation in Singur after the polls demanding return of the land that she claimed was forcibly acquired, on a day the chief minister sought her apology for the flight of the Nano project from Bengal. “We shall start a movement after the polls demanding that the land forcibly acquired in Singur be returned to farmers,” the Trinamul Congress chief told a news conference at her Kalighat house today. At an interaction with jo- urnalists earlier in the day, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said: “The Opposition deliberately stopped the project and compelled the Tatas to leave… the Opposition… should apologise.” Mamata said: “Instead of advising me, Buddhababu should himself apologise for his undemocratic actions in Singur… I shall see to it that farmers who have not collected their cheques get back their land.” She iterated the charge that the chief minister had “forcibly acquired” land for the small-car project. “A day will come when Buddhababu will have to carry a poster on his back telling people that he will never grab farmland to fulfil his whims. He will have to return 400 acres (which she says was forcibly acquired) in Singur at any cost,” she added. A Trinamul general secretary said a blueprint had been drawn up for the renewed agi-tation. “We shall call a meeting of the Save Farmland Committee after the polls to re-launch the Singur movement.” Told that the chief minister had termed her party “indisciplined”, Mamata flared up. “I don’t like to take a lesson from Buddhababu about what is discipline and culture. He is a dangerous man who is encouraging violence by asking his police and cadres to unleash terror on the Opposition. A chief minister who does not stick to his oath of office should be sacked.” Reacting to the chief min- ister’s remark that he would not talk to the Opposition on Singur again, Mamata said: “I don’t feel like talking to him.” Bhattacharjee had accused Mamata of indulging in divisive politics because of her repeated claims that Muslims were being persecuted and their land was being grabbed. Mamata said: “If Muslims are being murdered, how can I change their religious identities? Of the 11 people killed since the second phase of the polls in the state, nine were from the minority community. Eleven Muslim brothers were massacred by CPM men in Nanoor in 2000. How can I keep my eyes shut?”