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Mamata stalls Singur impasse resolution

September 07, 2008 21:51 IST

A solution to the Singur issue ran into rough weather on Sunday when Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee raised certain objects after a consensus was understood to have been reached between her party and West Bengal government, a senior minister said.
    
Public Works Department minister and RSP leader Kshiti Goswami told reporters at the Communist Party of India-Marxist party headquarters that a consensus was reached by both sides on the formation of a four-member committee to go into the demands of farmers to return their land. "Mamata Banerjee, subsequenly raised objections on some other aspects," Goswami said.
    
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had had a face-to-face talks with Mamata in the presence of Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Sunday and went to CPI-M headquarters to brief Left Front leaders, was returning to the Raj Bhavan to meet the Trinamool chief for another round of talks, Goswami said.

Goswami said 56 ancilliary units were to be set up at Tata Motors project site at Singur. Of these, 33 were given land and had begin work.
    
"It was, therefore, agreed that land of the 23 ancilliary vendors who were yet to be allotted the same could be taken back and given to the farmers and temporary status quo would be maintained," the minister said.
    
Mamata Banerjee then raised the issue of the 33 ancilliary units which had begun work and demanded that status quo should also be maintained there, he said.
    
Socialist Unity Centre of India leader, Manik  Mukherjee, a part of the Trinamool delegation, said "negotiations have not broken down."
    
Mukherjee claimed the government had agreed that land of vendors of ancilliary units who had not taken possession would be returned to farmers. "But at the time of the written draft, the government wanted to change the words but Mamata did not agree to the change," he claimed.

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