And I feel sad for West Bengal, I feel sad for Buddhadeb. If the Tatas and their ancillary units pull out of Singur, the possibility that several thousand people in that area would have jobs that would have been much better-paying than agriculture would be gone for ever. No industrial house would venture near that district ever. And some years later, looking back, even a nutcase like Mamata would perhaps realise what she had wrought. I hope she does, and I hope she lives with that knowledge and that shame every moment for the rest of her life. And I hope she lives to be a hundred.

Sandipan Deb, former Editor of The Financial Express, heads the RPG Group’s forthcoming magazine venture.

sandipandeb@yahoo.co.uk