Chief Minister Mamata BanerjeeChief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she only returned forcibly acquired farmland to the farmers, but it was the CPI(M) which drove Tata Motors away from Singur in Hooghly district.
“There are people who are spreading canards that I have driven away the Tatas from West Bengal. I did not, but it was the CPI(M) that drove them away,” she said addressing a ‘Bijaya Samillani’ in Siliguri.
“I only returned the land to the people that were forcibly acquired by the former Left Front government for Tata Motors’ Nano project in Singur. 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 do that? There is no dearth of land here,” she said.
Opposition parties, however, criticised Banerjee for her statement. Bengal Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “She will be the best liar in the world. She has never spoken a single truth in her life. She ruined this state and no industry will ever come here.”
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “She will get a D.Litt. for lying. She will now say that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee sat on a protest to drive the Tatas out of Singur.”
Supporting her statement, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “What she has said is absolutely correct. We never protested against any industry.” —WITH PTI INPUTS