Mamata calls govt land scam-tainted

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today pooh-poohed the Left Front's suggestion for returning 100 acres in Tata Motors' abandoned land at Singur to help in restarting an industry there and alleged that the state government was “land scam-tainted”.

“The government is absolutely corrupt, land scam-tainted and blacklisted,” Banerjee told reporters here. She turned down the renewed proposal by Industry Minister Nirupam Sen that she might accept Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's offer to return 100 acres of land to unwilling farmers in Singur for the small car factory.

The state government today said it was possible to set up industry at Singur if Trinamool responded positively to the state housing minister Gautam Deb's offer to return 11 per cent of acquired land at Rajarhat township if the Mamata Banerjee-led party allowed the Tatas to set up their second small car unit at the site. On Rajarhat, she said,

“They (state government) will have to explain why this land scandal has happened as it cannot deny its responsibility. Rajarhat land scam is big and we demand a full list of land givers or those whose land was grabbed”, she said.

“We do not want to listen anything from this land scam-tainted government which has pushed the state's economy to the brink of collapse during its 33-year rule,”she said. The Trinamool chief, who declined to react to Deb's proposal of returning 11 per cent land at Rajarhat and 10 per cent in Singur to farmers to pave the way for setting up the Tata car factory at Singur, said, “300 acres were given from the minister's quota without notification in violation of Supreme Court order.”

“Land scam involves 25,000 acres at Rajarhat. They have to tell how much land was taken and from whom. We want the entire list and seek an explanation as to why farmers were deprived of their land. Land was taken away from farmers forcibly with the help of goons and guns,” she alleged.