Congress for unconditional talks on Singur

Taking a strong pro-farmer stand, the Congress today held the Left Front government responsible for the “grave situation” in Singur and urged the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee administration to initiate unconditional talks involving the Tatas and the peasants’ representatives for resolving the issue of the disputed 400 acres there.

Alleging that the state government’s “dictatorial” attitude and hasty administrative steps at Singur complicated the situation, state Congress Chief P R Dasmunshi said, “We would like to call upon the state government to resolve the farmers’ problem by holding an unconditional discussion involving the government, the peasants’ representatives and the industry (meaning the Tatas) immediately”.

In line with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s stand, Dasmunshi said the Congress was totally against going ahead with industrialisation by sacrificing farmers’ interests, adding that such unconditional talks be held as early as possible for resolving the issue of the disputed additional 400 acres at Singur.

Speaking at a WBPCC-sponsored conference on 'Panchayetira and Nagarpalika' here, Dasmunshi said the Congress strongly felt that the Front government should have sought public opinion on the issue. He said it was imperative that the unconditional talks be held immediately to sort out the issue.