These facts — described by the CPM as a “perfect example of (Mitra’s and Trinamool’s) hypocrisy” — came to light on Friday after Mitra filed his nomination for the Diamond harbour Lok Sabha seat at the South 24-Parganas district magistrate’s office.

The statement of his assets showed ownership of land worth about Rs 34 lakh in Singur. Split into several plots, the land was purchased at the end of 2006 — around the time the state government began the process of land acquisition for the Nano project.

According to Mitra’s declaration, some plots are owned by him, the rest by his wife. Most of the land is understood to be very close to the factory site. “In his declaration, Somen Mitra has declared land in Singur,” DM, South 24-Parganas, Khalil Ahmed, said.

Mitra, a veteran Bengal politician, spent many years in the Congress before breaking away in July 2008 to set up the Progressive Indira Congress, which later became part of the Trinamool-led front. He has substantial business interests, and owns a resort on the Kona Expressway about 25 km from Kolkata.

He told The Indian Express: “It is true that I have bought land in Singur. What is wrong in that? The issue was highlighted in CPI(M)’s mouthpiece Ganashakti a year back, when the movement was on, and I gave them my reply. Our agitation was against forcible land acquisition from farmers. I did not acquire the land forcibly.”

Shyamal Chakraborty, CPI(M) spokesman and central committee and Rajya Sabha member, reacted sharply to the disclosures. “This is the perfect example of hypocrisy. They bought land themselves but did not allow the Tata Nano car project to come up,” he said.