By IANS,
Kolkata : West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi has suggested selecting a mediator between the state government and the Trinamool Congress for discussions over the Singur issue, party chief Mamata Banerjee said Sunday evening at Singur.
“The governor has sent me a letter and requested me to read it out to all who are present at the agitation dais. He has suggested me to select a mediator between the government and us, if only the party wants, to sort out the Singur issue,” Banerjee said at Singur, 40 km from here.
“I thank him for his concern. But the increasing mass support we are getting at the moment proves that we don’t need mediators.”
Banerjee said she is always ready for discussions with the government.
“But our demand is fixed. The government has to return 400 acres of farmland to the unwilling farmers. We are ready to mutually sort out other technical problems,” she said.
A Trinamool Congress-led delegation Sunday met Gandhi at Raj Bhavan here in an effort to resolve the stand-off.
Gandhi had sent a letter to Banerjee urging her to discuss with the state government to resolve the stand-off over the Tata Motors’ small car plant.
The letter said there is no issue that cannot be resolved through discussions.
The Trinamool Congress-led indefinite siege in Singur, which started Aug 24, has crippled Tata Motors’ bid to roll out the world’s cheapest car Nano from West Bengal, besides choking a key highway.
A total of 997.11 acres were acquired for the Tata Motors Nano project, of which 691.66 acres were given away by farmers willingly for a financial package.
Tata Motors took up the project to build the small car factory in Singur two years back. Since then there has been resistance from sections of the farmers and political parties over the farmland acquisition.