As Tata Motors rolled out Nano from Mumbai on Monday, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said she did not care about the car and demanded that 400 acres from the Singur site be returned to dispossessed farmers.

She said that she is concerned about the people’s interest and not for Nano car.

“There is no factory in Bengal or Gujarat. So is Nano coming out of a shopping mall? We do not care whether it is Nano or No No and from where it is launched. We care for the people,” said Banerjee. When asked whether she regretted that Tata Motors had withdrawn its plant from Singur, the Trinamool chief reacted vociferously and said: “You are asking me an unethical question. I am not a businessman. I do not care whether it is Rs 1 lakh or one crore car. We are against the forcible land acquisition. The government forcibly took away the land from unwilling farmers.”

She questioned the manner in which Tata Motors left Bengal. “Why did the Tatas leave Bengal? Why did the state government not adhere to the agreement they signed with us before the Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi,” she said.

She stated that the demand of returning 400 acres of land to the farmers is a part of Trinamool’s election manifesto.

She also asked why the proposed plants have not taken off in Bengal. “There is no opposition against the Jindal project in Salboni. Why has this project not taken off? Why has work not started at Basumati? Why has Dunlop not opened?” she said.

... contd.