CPI(M) drove away Tata from Singur, not me: Mamata

Ms. Banerjee is often criticised by her opponents for the movement against the acquisition of land at Singur in the mid-2000s

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that it was not her but the CPI(M) which drove away Tata Motors from Singur.

Addressing a ‘Bijaya Samillani’ or post-Durga Puja meeting in Siliguri, Ms. Banerjee said she only returned the land to the people that was forcibly acquired by the former Left Front government for the Tata Motors’ Nano factory in Singur in Hooghly district.

“There are people who are spreading canards that I have driven away the Tatas from West Bengal. I did not force them away, but it was the CPI(M) which drove them away,” she said at the government function, adding that she thought of not making any political statement at the programme.

“You (CPI(M)) forcibly took land from the people for the project, we returned that land to the people. We have done so many projects, but never taken any land forcibly from anybody. Why should we take land forcibly? There is no dearth of land here,” she added.

Ms. Banerjee is often criticised by her opponents, especially the CPI(M), for the movement against the acquisition of land at Singur in the mid-2000s, which forced the Tata group to abandon its ambitious car manufacturing project, which could have created thousands of jobs, even after completing a significant part of it.

The movement fuelled Ms. Banerjee’s rise to power in the State as she routed the Left Front government of 34 years in 2011.