Second round of Singur talks begin

The second round of crucial talks to end the Singur logjam began at the Raj Bhavan here today with West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi presiding over it.

The meeting began at about 11 am and is being attended by the West Bengal government and the Trinmool Congress (TC)-led opposition.

The government is represented by Industries Minister Nirupam Sen, Panchayat Minister Surjya Kanata Mishra, Industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen, West Bengal Industries Development Corporation managing director Subrata Gupta, Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb and Home Secretary Ashok Mohon Chakraborty.

The opposition leaders attending the meeting are Leader of the opposition Partha Chatterjee, Kalyan Banerjee, Purnendu Bose (CPI-ML) and Manik Mukherjee (SUCI).

Debabrata Bandopadhyay, the former land reforms commissioner and former Bombay High Court Chief Justice Chittatosh Mukhopadhayay, requested by the governor to provide legal advice, were also present.

The first round of talks yesterday ended on a positive note with the Leader of the opposition saying the talks were heading for a solution.

A press statement issued by Raj Bhavan had said the discussions were held in a constructive spirit with the intention of providing a way out.

Meanwhile, at Singur there was no political activity at the dharna manch of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Songs and recitation programmes were on as the crowd there anxiously awaited the outcome of the talks to resolve the controversy over land for the Tata's small car project.