After Governor cold shoulder, Mamata struggles with options

Following the failed meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Banerjee had announced that she would declare her future agitation program after meeting the Governor. However, she preferred to remain quiet after a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with Gandhi.

Banerjee failed to convince the Governor, who is mediating between the opposition and the state Government on the Singure issue, that she had been betrayed by the Chief Minister.

After hearing Banerjee, the Governor reportedly told her that he would “like to hear the state Government's part too”. “The state Government has not maintained the sanctity of the decision that was taken in presence of the Governor. They have deceived us,”she said.

Speaking to the media, Banerjee did not, even for once, utter the name of the Tatas. In fact, she refused to answer any question other than ones related to her meeting with the Governor. She reiterated that her party wanted both agriculture and industry to survive and prosper together.

Trinamool sources said Banerjee feels that she is finding it difficult to find her way out of the situation. “She believed that the Governor would take her side against the state Government,” sources said.

Interestingly, representatives of some of the key constituents of the 21 party coalition formed by Banerjee for the Singur issue were not present at the meeting, including leaders like Purnendu Bose, who had attended earlier meetings and was part of the team who met the Chief Minister in August.